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OF THE 



DIVINE *l* HEALING 



BY 



REV. J. M. COCHRAN. 



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^ LAWS ^ 



Divine * Healing. 



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— BY- 
REV. J. M. COCHRAN. 



COPYRIGHT 1891, BY J. M. COCHRAN. 



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PRINTED AT THE 

HONEY GROVE SIGNAL JOB OFFICE, 

HONEY GROVE, TEXAS- 



PREFACE. 

I am well aware that this book contains only a small portion of the 
subject which its title assumes. In its widest sense divine healing 
would include every case that ever occurred of recovery from disease, 
and the laws governing it; and every recovery would also be the regen- 
eration of the body through the soul. It is, therefore, only those 
forms of treating disease embraced under the names of curative agents 
that are here treated, and principally that form which is employed by 
means of special prayer and special faith. 

Under the same title of this book, I published a 16-page pamphlet 
in 1884, in which three of the leading essentials of this publication 
were included, which were; first, that old age is the only divinely ap- 
pointed agent of death; secondly, that hell produces all disease; and 
thirdly, that gradual faith healing was universal; that it was according 
to divine order, while instantaneous or miraculous healing was the ex- 
ception, and only for extreme cases. 

These two forms of special divine healing will probably remain 
permanent in the church of the future, for the violation of hygiene 
laws, the accidental breaking of bones, the infliction of accidental 
wounds, and the weakness of life force in infancy and old age will 
continue into the New Age, and never cease; and will always call for 
more or less of divine special healing by prayer and faith. I believe 
that all necessary discoveries for the practice of these two forms of 
special healino? are in the following pages practically perfected, and 
cannot be essentially improved; and will be used all through the ages 
of a<zes on which we are now entering. 

The theories given are, of course, not applicable to first-class mira- 
cles, such as Christ performed, and which are now getting to be com- 
paratively numerous; but such miracles were only temporary in the 
Apostolic age, and will probably, sooner or later, entirely cease in our 
age; and when they do, the two forms of healing here given will be 
adopted, and be received into universal use. 

My own personal experiences are the only ones given, because I 
have principly sought to present rules for practice, so that any one who 
can read can easily understand how to become an efficient and success- 
ful faith healer, without consulting a teacher, and without making 
mistakes. I believe that if any one who reads this book either ser- 
iously suffers or dies with disease, it will be his own fault, and there 
will be no one to blame but himself; for, as far as I have been able. 



not onh^ every point of importance has been treated, but the treatment 
has been simplified, as much as possible, so as to bring it easily within 
the capacity of the simple and uneducated. 

How far the principles presented in 1884 have been adopted and 
put into practice, and how far rejected I do not know, but it was pro- 
bably only a work of seed sowing, the results of which an Omniscient 
mind alone can correctly know. But the circulation of what was pub- 
lished was almost entirely among the justification (sanctification) ele- 
ment of the United States and Canada, for it was to them, and their 
twenty-seven editors, that I sent nearly all of the five hundred copies 
I had. 

"In Jesus Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." 
This is New Church theology, and in the following pages, Jesus Christ, 
the gospel names of the one Divine Person, and the one Divine Being, 
have been used in preference to any others, for the name of the Divine 
Being has much to do in forming an idea of Him. The names Jesus 
and Christ are the leading gospel names, and if the Father and Son 
are united like soul and body in man, making one Divine Person, and 
one Divine Being, then Jesus Christ ought to be the leading names ap- 
plied to this Divine Being in all public and private worship; and in all 
religious writings; for the common people will then understand it, and 
easily form a correct idea of the one Divine Being. 

Just as soon as the principles contained in the following 
pages are accepted and put into practice by the christian 

PUBLIC, THERE WILL BE AN END TO THE DEVIL's KINGDOM OF DISEASE. 

Author. 



^ 



LAWS OF THE DIVINE HEALING. 



FIRST IMPRESSIONS. 

Early in my professed Christian life, which began in 1869, from 
books, papers, raaojazines, etc., it was my good fortune to occasionally 
read a floating article about some one being healed of a bodily disease by 
the prayer of faith, but as far as a correct knowledge of such matters 
was concerned, I was in total darkness. People regarded these things 
as nonsense, and paid no attention to them; but I soon became inter- 
ested in them, and then eagerly investigated every one that could be 
found. I however, held the common opinion of religious people, that 
all disease was inflicted on man by Jesus, and that it was his good will 
and pleasure for us to suffer such things, and, therefore, for many 
years, I supposed there were only a few cases, occurring occasionally, 
that he was willing to heal. In religious books and papers articles 
were also continually being published about various persons glorifying 
Jesus by patiently enduring the pains and miseries he sent upon them; 
and in every instance that I had ever seen, where committees were 
appointed to draft resolutions of respect in memory of any person, of 
an}^ age, recently deceased, they always referred the cause of death to 
the divine will, to which they would bow with humble resignation. 
Holding such views as these was one of my greatest mistakes, for, 
under these circumstances, when I prayed for the healing of any one, 
doubts were incessantly assailing me whether or not my petition was 
lawful. But the greatest trouble I had and the principal one that kept 
me so long in darkness was the belief that all healing of disease by 
the prayer of faith, was instantaneous, and none of them gradual. I 
made the same fatal mistake that others have done, and are still doing, 
of taking the miracles- of Jesus and his apostles as my only guide, and 
therefore, expecting no other answers for the cure of sickness than 
such as fell like a flash of lightning from heaven to earth, and came in 
an instant. Then a<?ain, after I had gained a little light, and began to 
believe that divine healing would be given gradually, for a long time I 
made another mistake in supposing that Jesus would answer the prayer 
in a moment, and then, without any more praying; subsequently carry 
on the work of healing until it was completed. Thus it was, that for 
ten long years I wandered in darkness, all the time believing in the 
healing of bodil}^ disease by the prayer of faith, but not knowing the 
way, all the time sufl'ering myself with malignant diseases, and fre- 
quently seeing and hearing of relatives and friends dying in the cradle, 
in the bloom of youth, and in the vigor of manhood, and scarcely ever 
any one dying with old age. But step by step I went stumbling along, 
falling and rising, until I got my first significant lesson in an experi- 



6 

mental case; then a little light flowed in, I took courage, was enlisted 
as never before, determined to unravel the whole mystery, and fron:i 
thence forward, eagerly grasped at ever}^ suitable opportunity to ex- 
periment with any case of sickness that came within my reach, until, 
finally, after ten years of experimenting, the whole problem was 
solved, every question answered entirely to my satisfaction, everything 
laid bare to my view, experimented with, and tried, until no more 
doubts remained. 

MY FIRST CASE. 

After eleven years of church life, and nine in the ministry of the 
Methodist church, in the early spring of 1880 I was living in Fannin 
County, Texas. A man lived near me who had a large family of small 
children. One day he went to town, got drunk, resisted the officers 
who attempted to arrest him, and was shot, receiving a wound that 
finally proved fatal. I pitied the distressed wife, helpless children 
and wounded man until my soul was stirred to its depths. A few days 
after he was shot, a neighbor returned from town, stating that the 
wound had taken a fatal turn, and there was not a single hope of his 
recover3^ This news was too much. I sought a lonely retreat, and 
there spent a long season in prayer for his recovery, which was re- 
peated several times at short intervals. Two or three days after this 
I was informed that the patient was greatly improved, and that strong 
hope was then entertained of his recovery. Being ignorant of the way 
I immediately quit praying, thinking that I had already prevailed for 
his complete recovery, and, therefore, nothing more was necessary 
than to sit still and watch the healing of the wound. The patient lan- 
guished, grew worse, and within two or three weeks died. I was per 
plexed as never before. That I had prevailed, at first, for divine heal- 
ing, I could not reasonably doubt; but w^hy Jesus had ceased to apply 
his healing power was the mystery that could not be understood. I 
imagined many things too numerous to mention, but all to no purpose. 
The only road open was to try some other cases, and watch the results. 
Now I know that prayer should have been offered every day until the 
patient was out of danger, and failing to do this was the cause of the 
relapse; but it was not until T had tried many more cases that I learned 
this all important lesson. This case, although finally fatal, yet gave 
me a starting point, and really forms a significant opoch in the history 
of m}^ life. 

PLAN OF OPERATION. 

Eagerly I waited for another opportunity, for I was now deeply en- 
listed and bent on solving the matter. It soon came, and then another, 
and another, until it was not long before I had as many names on my 
prayer list as I could properly represent. After the first case was 
tried, every time any one would become dangerously sick close to me 
I would immediately place his name on ni}^ praj^er list, and, without 
telling anyone, carry the case daily to a throne of grace, and watch the 
effect with the closest possible scrutiny. Thus I went on and on f >r 
two or three years, until I had tried a great many cases, and had fully 
tested that Jesus never, in a single instance, failed to apply his healino^ 
power, whenever, wherever, and for whomsoever I asked it. Quite a 
number of persons, who were on the verge of death, given out b}- doc- 



tors, relatives and friends as hopeless, were thus, during these exer- 
cises, restored to health, and never knew the power that cured them. 
When I commenced I wanted to give the enterprise a thorough, fair, 
square trial; and. in order to do this, I sought the worst cases that 
could be found, and generally let them alone until doctors, friends and 
relatives said there was no hope of recovery. Then I took hold, and 
pushed my object with diligence and careful observation. When pos- 
sible, daily inquiry into the condition and symptoms of the patient was 
made, and these compared with the prayer I had offered. Some of 
them have been forgotten, but the raost important ones are well re- 
membered, and a few out of many of them will be given. 

CASE NO. 1 

Was a particular friend; a super-numerary member of the Phila- 
delphia Conference, Methodist Episcopal church. I left Philadelphia 
in the fall of 1876, knowing that he had been in bad health for a num- 
ber of years, and that he had to quit preaching on account of it. His 
disease was some kind of chronic affliction of the head, but I never 
learned its name. Soon after I commenced experimenting with heal- 
ing by prayer, I wrote him a friendly letter, but without referring to 
his disease, or even thinking of it. In due time I received an answer, 
and, among other things mentioned, he stated that the disease in his 
head was worse, and, that for two years he had not been able to read a 
column in a newspaper. I immediately answered his letter informing 
him that I had learned the way of faith healing, and set a special day 
and hour, at which time I would begin with his case. I also pioposed 
that at nine o'clock each day thereafter, each of us should spend a half 
hour in prayer for the removal of his disease. I strictly observed 
the day and hour, and continued to nray a half hour every day for two 
or three weeks for the removal of the disease. A few days after com- 
mencing, I received a letter from him in which he refused to join me 
stating that he had no special impression on the subject, but also 
stating that if I wished to pray for his recovery he had no objections. 
A few da^^s later I received another letter from him stating that he 
was improving; that he slept better; that others were becoming inter- 
ested in his case, and he believed that Jesus was answering prayer. 
I continued my petition a little longer, and, receiving no more news 
from him, and knowing that he was a preacher himself, and could eas- 
ily finish his case without my help. I dropped it. Two years later I 
returned to Philadelphia, and the first Sabbath after my arrival heard 
him preach in Spring Garden street Methodist church. He treated me 
just as probably a hundred others have done, sefused to communicate 
with me just as soon as he could do without me. I never learned any 
particulars of his recovery more than the one letter gave, for I was so 
disgusted with the w^ay he had treated me in failing to give any of the 
particulars of his recnvery, that I never went about him or wrote to 
him any more. 

CASES NO. 2 AND 3. 

One of these was a young man, and the other an old one. Both had 
sunken breasts indicating weak lungs. They both lived near me and 
were both taken near the same tiiiie with pneumonia. I was w^ell ac- 
quainted with the disease and knew it to be dangerous, and that it 



almost invariably proved fatal when it attacked people with weak 
lungs; so these two cases were exactly the kind I wanted. They were 
among the first I tried, and Jesus gave me signal success with both of 
them; for, after they were pronounced hopeless by doctors and friends, 
I commenced with them; carried each case separately to a throne of 
grace every day for about three weeks. As soon as I com-nenced 
praying for their healing, they began to amend, and when I ceased 
they were convalescent, and out of danger. The young man returned 
to his home in Eastern Texas; the old one sold his farm and went west. 

CASE NO. 4 

Was a man in middle life, with a strong, robust body. He was 
taken with typhoid fever and drugged to the verge of death with calo- 
mel. The calomel produced hemorhage of the bowels, and under its 
power he steadily and rapidly sunk until the physician in charge de- 
clared the case hopeless. This was my opportunity, and the point for 
which I always waited before T commenced with faith healing. When 
I began he was declining so rapidly that in place of spending one daily 
season of prayer for his recovery, I spent three or four. The next day 
after I commenced he began to rapidly improve, and soon recovered. 

CASE NO. 5. 

This was a bright little boy two or three years old. As many others 
do at his age, he learned the habit of eating dirt. His parents worked 
long and hard to break him from it, but failed in every effort. One 
day he ate an unusually large amount, and was soon prostrated with 
sickness, which rapidly developed into inflamation of the stomach, and 
soon necessitated the supposed skill of a physician. When the doctor 
arrived about noon, I was present, and witnessed the prescription of 
his medicine. He intended to leave as soon as he ate his dinner, but 
the child grew rapidly worse, so that he remained until near sun down, 
and then left without saying anything. The child's breathing had be- 
come short and difficult. I was told that large purple spots were 
gathering on his body, but did not see them. The father and mother 
were in deep silence, and friends occasionally looking at each other, 
and whispering, or going out to give and receive opinions. I heard 
some of them, and without exception, they all believed the child to be 
near death. My opportunity had come again, and no time was to b(^ 
lost. I sought a lonely place, bowed at the Master's feet, and entreated 
for the life of the child. I continued a long time in prayer, and re- 
peated my petition until I knew that I had victory. I then retired for 
the night without returning to the sick room. At break of day the 
next morning, I hastened to the bedside of the child, and found him 
considerably improved. He soon got well and is now a fine boy, ready 
to verge into manhood. 

PERSONAL DISEASES. 

The above were all acute diseases, and, in the treatment and cure 
of them, and chronic diseases, there is a vast difference, for acute 
diseases recover readily, and within a few days, but it requires weeks, 
months and sometimes years t(^ heal a chronic disease; because life 
force has been in a subdued state so long, that it does not co-operate 
with divine power as it does in the healing of acute sickness. It is 



more diHicult to cifuctualiy hoai (•lironic diseat^us in other.'<, i)artly for 
the want of daily information, and it is probably fortunate that I had 
such a lai'gvj number in my own body, for without them, my experi- 
ence would have rem lined to some extent, imperfect. In treating 
chronic diseases then, I must give my own personal conflicts, trials, 
experiences and final victory, lor 1 never tested any of them in other 
persons. When I commenced to learn faith healing, my own body 
was filled with disease, until I did not possess a particle of sound 
flesh. I had a lung disease, a stomach disease that seemed to pene- 
trate every tibej- of my being, a heai't disease, and a cancer, any one of 
which would have proved fatal had it not been for divine help. x-Vnd, 
in addition to these, a bowel disease, a l^idney disease, and was again 
and again attacked by acute diseases which would conjoin themselves 
so closely with chronic diseases, that they bid defiance to all earthly 
help, and in this condition I remained for years. 

disp:asp: no 1 
Was a lung disease, contracted in September, 1866. I was then a 
young man, and on a farm, living with a widowed mother, in a little 
cove, among the mountains of North Alabama. One hot afternoon I 
cut a large oak tree on a steep hill side, and in chopping the hjwer 
side, the. stump was very high, making the labor, very heavy and 
straining. When I finished the job, I was wet with perspiration, and 
completely exlniusted; and in that condition went home, ate my sup- 
per and retired. In the first part of the night it was hot and sultry, 
but turned cool before day. In the latter part of the night I awoke 
from sleep, chilled with cold, very hoarse, and had a severe pain in 
the left lung. The pain continued several days and then ceased, but 
lor fourteen years it would return with the slighest exposure. All this 
time I was confident it was gradually growing worse and worse, for 
every spell left my lungs weaker, and rendered them more and nr:)re 
susceptible to cold or exposure. The spells also continued to remain 
longer, and the time between spells grew shorter and shorter, until a 
little while after I connnencecl to learn faith healing, when the tinje 
between spells ceased entirely, and the disease settled down into its 
final work of death. I could not bear either a hot stove, or a cold 
wind, so that I could stand nothing but a warm even temperature. 
Death stared me in the face, anrl the grave yawned at my feet. I was 
alarmed, for I had taken only a few lessons in faith healing, and sup- 
posed that my case might be one among those that Jesus would I'efuse 
to heal. . This state continued several weeks, and became so severe 
that one Sabbath afternoon all hope outside of divine help vanished, 
and I then and there, for the first time, resolved to test Jesus as a 
healer. T went immediately to m}^ room, bowed before the Divine 
Master, and entreated Him to cure my lungs. Victory began to come 
within one minute after prayer commenced, for before a dozen sen- 
tences were uttered, I felt njy lungs (expanding, and, as my prayer 
continued, they continued to expand until it seenn'd as if thev pushed 
my ribs and chest out an inch. The expansion of my lungs, and en- 
larging of the chest continued five or ten minutes, and could ))e as dis- 
tinctly lelt as tile inhaUng of air. As m}' lungs expanded it seenjed as 



10 

ii" the air ccll^ ()[)l'Iil'(1, and adinitti-d li-L'sh air, for 1 could feel a serisa- 
tion all throu;jjh them like the sprinkling of cool water on a hot fore- 
head, and this perception was equally as distinct as the expanding. I 
went down stairs exulting and triumphant in victory, for I thought the 
healing was complete and perfect. The next morning, however, I 
found m3^self mistaken, for my lungs were intensely sore, and wlien I 
went to prayer I again experienced the same sensations, but in a less 
degree. I knew Jesus was hearing prayer, and doing something with 
my lungs, but did not understand it until I had continued several 
weeks in this way, and found that He was gradually restoring them to 
a sound healthy state. I also continued to experience the circulation 
of fresh air through my lungs, followed by soreness every time I 
prayed, but these symptoms gradually subsided until they entirely 
disappeared. It took four or five months to cure this disease, but at 
the end of that time my lungs were sound and healthy, and niy voice 
completely restored, which I had not been able to use in preaching or 
singing for two years. It has n(jw been about ten years since I recov- 
ered, and during that time, I have bten able to use my voice in preach- 
ing or singing as I pleased, and have never felt even a single symptom 
of my old spells. Neither did I take a drop of medicine, or use any 
hygiene treatment more than what has been stated. 

diseasp: no. 2 
Was dyspepsia. In January, 1869, while sitting in a chair one 
evening, in conversation with some friends, a sudden, sharp pain 
struck my left lung, and spread through that organ, until midnight, 
when I could only talk with ditiiculty. From the lungs it slowly 
spread through my body, and finally estaolished itself in my stomach, 
and soon induced a bad case of nervous dyspepsia. By careful dieting 
I could cure the dyspepsia, but the nervous disease would remain, and 
keep the stomach so weak that a slight departure from strict diet would 
bring the dyspepsia back. This alternate recovery and return of dys- 
pepsia continued about two years, and then settled down into a chronic 
form of nervous dyspepsia. The food I ate was not vomited, or spit 
up from the stomach, but would remain there for hours, and some 
times for days before it would digest. One day I imprudently ate 
some bacon, which not only refused to be digested, but felt as if it 
rolled its.df into a ball, and stuck like wax to the left, lower side of my 
stomach. It remained there two or three weeks, for I could distinctly 
feel it, and all the while I continued to eat and digest other food as 
usual. After remaining in its place two or three weeks it suddenly 
bursted and mingled with the last food I ate, bringing on me a slight 
attack of colie. I distinctly felt it break loose from its location, and 
not only had the colic as evidence, but I could distinctly taste it, and 
the taste w^as like that of old, stale lard. After this, nearly everything I 
ate that was heavy of digestion acted in the same way, but did not re- 
main as long as did the bacon. I continued one or two years in this 
condition, the most of the time with an apparent ball of indigestible 
food sticking to the left, lower side of my stomach. The nervousness 
had now left me, and nothing of the disease remained but indigestion. 
One day I ate some food that was very salty, and it seemed to act on 



11 

my stomach just as alum, or tlie juice of a green persimmon does on 
the mouth. At that time, the inside of my stomach felt as if it Avas 
raw flesh, for I could no more bear any food that had the least particle 
of salt in it; for my stomach was so tender that it would detect the 
presence of salt when it could not be done by taste. The disease had 
now gone so far that I had little sense of either hunger or thirst. Peo- 
ple may not believe it, but I do actuall}" believe that I could have died 
for the want of either food or water, and not have suffered any pain 
from either hunger or thirst. My appetite neither called for, or re- 
jected either food or water, but seemed perfectly unconcerned on the 
subject; so I continued to eat and drink because I knew that life required 
it. When my stomach became so sensative to salt, I went to a baker}^ 
in Philadelphia, and by paying in advance, engaged the proprietor to 
bake me a supply of bread without salt, and on this and water I livcid 
aboutjsix weeks, eating often, and, a small bit at a time. At the end of 
that time the dyspepsia was half gone, so that I could return to a care- 
ful use of ordinary diet, and within a few months the dyspepsia was so 
near gone that I did not again feel much symptoms of it. This was 
in 1874, and was not connected with faith healing, and has been given 
merely to explain how I contracted 

DISEASE NO. o. 
This was a general debility of the stomach, and thence of the whole 
body. When I recovered from the dyspepsia, I found my body little 
better than dead wood, or a stone. I was ahnost a walking statue, and 
had not the most remote idea of the terrible disease that lurked within. 
Dead, imperceptible lifelessness has been a chief characteristic, and 
for want of a name, I have called it debility. I have consulted a num- 
ber of medical doctors, and never met one that knew anything about 
this disease. The seat of it was in my stomach, on the left, lower side, 
to which balls of food Avould stick while I had dyspepsia. There it- 
felt dead and lifeless, and extended the deadness to every fiber of ni}^ 
body, but in a less degree. I had no idea of its fearful character until 
time proved it, for I thought when I recovered from dyspepsia that 
health would soon return again, and never discovered the thief within 
until time after time, and year after year, I thought recovery close at 
hand, only to be again and again disappointed For fifteen years I 
suffered with it, and never experienced the slightest relapse, for every 
particle of improvement gained during the last ten years of the fifteen 
was retained, so that for ten years my health steadily improved until 
it was recently entirely regained. It might be asked if it took ten 
years to heal a disease by faith? I answer no, for I had to labor for a 
living and could not stand the effects of much prayer, for every time I 
prayed for the healing of this disease it made me so weak, sore and 
nervous that I had to desist, and only offer prayer wlien I had leisure 
time in which to recover from the soreness and weakness that always 
followed a season of prayer. Probably this will be assailed by those 
who have no experience in such matters, but after ten years of experi- 
menting in my own body, I ought to know; and I assert that in man}^, 
if not in all cases of bad chronic disease, every time effectual prayer is 
offered for divine gradual healing, soreness, weakness, nervousness. 



12 

unusual hunger, nv drow.^y slct'piuuss will oiu' or all follow; aud, if too 
much prjiycr iy oifi'red, oiu' or all of thciii will increase until a relapse 
or temporary pi'ostration will follow, and rcnuain until the natural 
])bvsical life force I'estores the usual vigor. ]>ut this (question must 
be left for its proper place. This disease could have been removed by 
the prayer of faith within a few months, or witliin one or two years at 
the fartherest, but having to labor 1 only })rayed for its removal occa- 
sionally, and nearly every time I went tj [)rayer for healing I could 
feel the healing power in my stomach, and entire body, and experi- 
enced this sensation only wlien I was engaged in prayer for the re- 
moval of the disi asc. 1 liually recovered entirely, and was cured by 
the gradual healing of divine power, sent in answer to pra}^^-, and I 
never took a particle of medicine foi it, or resorted to any form of hygiene 
treatment. For years 1 had known that this disease produced the 
same sluggishness of mind that over-eating does, and as the last traces of 
the disease began to depart my meniory and imaginative faculties, with 
much quicker thought and perception greatly increased. 

DISEASE NO. 4 

AVas a chronic disease of the bowels, and was so closely related to 
the debility of my stomach and body that I sometimes thought it was 
a part of it. Spells of intense griping pains would frequently assail 
me so severely that nothing short of divine power could save my life. 
I believe that, many times, I would have speedily died wdthout hope or 
remedy had it not been for the prayer of faith, for the spells w^ould 
suddenly come u])on me with savage fury, })roduce intense suffering 
and drive me in haste to a throne of grace. Prayer never failed to re- 
move the pain wdthin ten or fifteen minutes and entirely remove the at- 
tack within a few hours, but out of many at^tacks, I never, in a single 
instance, got relief until I prayed for it, and never, in a single instance, 
failed to get immediate relief when I prayed for it. I never tried to 
permanently remove these spells, for they were so closely conjoined 
to the debility of my stomach that I thought one could not be cured 
without the other, so they were both permanently healed and passed 
away about the same time. 

DISEASE NO. 5 

Was a genuine cancer, located on the back, outer side of my left 
knee joint, just under the skin. When I first discovered it, a few years 
before I learned faith healing, it was a hard blue lump, about the size 
of a bean or larger, and just under the skin. It remained there two or 
three years, during which tiine, it slightly increased in size, but gave 
me no trouble except w^hen I struck it against some solid substance. 
It would then pain me just like the sting of a bee, and I got it hurt so 
often that I soon learned to avoid, as much as })ossible, the pain |n-o- 
duced by striking it against an object. When I first discovered it, I 
was satisfied it was a cancer. I had some knowledge of their charac- 
ter, and feared its fearful ravages when it would become a running, eat- 
ing sore. As soon as I learned the way of faith healing I carried it to 
Jesus in prayer, and continued the case at intervals several months 
and was delighted to see it gradually depart without any medicine or 
any external ap})lication. The l)lue spot, h(jwever, remained a year or 



13 

two after the cancer disappeared; but nature gradually removed the 
blue, and restored the normal color. 

DISEASE NO. 6 

Was a disease of the heart. It was produced' by the same nervous 
disease that brousrht on me the dyspepsia, and, at first was only an appa- 
rent overflow of blood to the heart. T never felt it except when I 
awoke from sleep, and suddenl}^ turned the left side dowm. I frequently 
did this thoug-htlessly, and every time experienced, for a few moments, 
strong palpitations or throl)bings of the heart, which was caused by a sud- 
den overflow of blood. I g3t well of the nervous disease before I did of 
the dyspepsia, but, in place of the heart disease ceasing with the ner- 
vousness, it only assumed another form, for, I then began to have mo- 
mentary spells of heart fluttering. This form of the disease continued 
many years, and was also closely related, and in sympathy with the 
old. debility of my stomach and body. It was not very hard on me at 
first, and I was several years engaged in faith healing before I gave it 
much attention. But it gradually grew w^orse until I got a little un- 
easy, lest some day I might be attacked by a very bad spell, and drop 
dead; for I well understood the danger of heart disease. The reason 
why I let it run so long, was that I had become so well experienced in 
faith healing, and kr.ew that Jesus would begin the work of removing 
it any time I saw proper to pray for it. However, when it got so bad 
that I got uneasy, I then began the work of prayer for its removal. 
As it had been in nearly all the healing of my chronic diseases, so 
again, as soon as prayer for healing began, weakness of the organ fol- 
lowed, and I had to be very careful lest my heart action became so 
weak that action miuht entirely cease. One day after I had been un- 
usually long and earnest in prayer the action of my heart became so 
weak that I was alarmed, and ever after that when I prayed for ^ the 
removal of this disease, I was careful to do it onl}' a little at a time. 
Under the power of Jesus, and in answer to prayer, the spells of flut- 
tering got fewer and fewer, and weaker and weaker until they entirely 
ceased, and my heart action became regular and healthy, and has re- 
mained so untill the present hour. In this case as in all the others, 
I never touched medicine. I have heard it said — but don't know how 
true it is — that the heart, when once diseased, never recovers. It this 
assertion be true, I can furnish one grand excepti(m, and give it to the 
glory of the precious Savior I love so dearly. 

DISEASE NO. 7 

Was a strong predisposition to chills, which, although not chronic 
was still the cause of much trouble. From the time I began entering 
from b(\vhood into manhood I have been predisposed to attacks of the 
chills. A^^hile I was recovering from my old debility, I was not only 
attacked, but frequently attacked, by these pests; so much so that they 
gave me many troubles, and added to my stock of trials and tribula- 
tions. They were, however, very lio^ht, and more easily cured than 
they would have been in a more violent form. But, although they 
were light, yet they never failed to assert their usual custom of return- 
ino- once in everv 24 or 48 hours. Before I learned faith healing I 



14 

could never Flop chills by medicine and continiu^ l<d)or wluai chill 
hour arriv(>d, and in these many cases, it was equally true; so when I 
was attacked by the chills, and learned their hour of return, I would 
cease labor, retire to rest and engage in prnyer; and when this was 
done before the first symptoms vvere felt, I never failed to ])e success- 
full in a single instance. But wiien the chill was permitted to com- 
mence its work, prayer would then only modify, l)ut not overcome it, 
and I would have to wait and intercept the next visit. These chills 
were always caused by the irregular application of faith healing on my 
old debility, the routine of which was as follows: On occount of 
having to labor, I only prciyed for healing on my old debility at leisure 
times, because it never failed to produce weaknes. This being the 
case, w^hen I spent a season, or succession of seasons, in prayer for 
healing on my old debility the power was always applied producing 
weakness throughout my entire body. The weakness would continue 
as long as prayer continued, but when I had to return to labor I was 
compelled to cease prayer soon enough to recover from the weakness, 
and when returning strength began to supercede the weakness, bones, 
knee and elbow joints would invariably undei'go a spell of aching, and 
the more healing that was supplied the greater would be the weakness 
that would follow, and the greater would be the aching of bones; and 
this aching, wlien severe, never failed to produce a light chill. A par- 
allel to this can frequently be found in the ordinary case of diseases, 
hnd especially the measles, which frequently, when recovery begins, 
settle on sonie weak organ of the body producing a life time affliction, 
entirely different from the disease that caused it. Thus it was, that in 
praying for tlie cure of my old debilit}^, I was continually kept between 
threatening points, and with all the care I could command, frequently 
ccmtracted a spell of the chills. I have known almost thousands of 
cases of the chills, and scarcely ever knew a single spell to cease on 
any person without some kind of doctoring, but in my own case, out of 
not only njany, but very many attacks of. these chills, I never, in a 
single instance, tried an}'- other cure than Divine Plealing, and it never 
fail(?d to do the work efficiently. 

DISEASE NO. 8 

Was a disease of the kidneys, and was heraditary in m}^ fathers 
family. I frequently had light spells of it early in life, but it was not 
until the debility of my stomach and body was contracted that its ma- 
lignanc}^ was developed. Recovery from speils of weakness, as de- 
scribed above, always acted on my kidneys just as it did on my bom^s 
and joints, with the difference that my kidneys wvrv far more sensitive; 
and, as a consequence were more often, and moie seriously attacked. 
I never had this disease badly, nor did I ever exi)eri(Mi(H' anything 
more than temporary attacks, which, possibly, might ha\ e ceased 
without Divine Healing. It was, however, closely connected, and in 
continual sympathy with the debility of my stomach and body. But 
like all the other diseases. I recovere<l wiihout cither medicine or hy- 
giene treatment. 

niSEASK NO. U 

^\^ls an attack of the contagious itch, and came nci'v near settling 



15 

into a chronic form. Tt conjoined itself more closel_y to the debility of 
m}^ stomach and body than any of the preceding diseases, and it nt- 
terly refused to yield to gradual faith healing, no doubt it could have 
been removed by -gradual faith healing but it could not he sep- 
arated from the debility of my stomach and bod3^;'so that itv^'ould have 
been necessary to he^ both together. The healing of my debility was 
so slow that I could not wait, for the itch was extremely painful, and 
some times almost ran me into frenzy. Gradual healing was applied 
to it every time I prayed for it, and I would rapidly improve, but 
changes in the S3'mptonis of my debility were frequently occurring 
Avhich would produce changes in the itch, and these invariably pro- 
duced a relapse, leaving me to commence again at the foot of the hill. 
Thus I continued the prayer of gradual faith healing for several weeks 
with alternate improvements and relapses, the relapses being invari- 
ably caused by the old debility, and the close sympath}^ that existed 
between the two diseases. I was suffering Intensely, and well knew 
that no earthly power could help me, for the old debility was like a 
mountain of granite, and the itch had united itself so closeh^ to it that 
one could not be removed without the other, unless a new power could 
be invoked. I was suffering fearfully, but well knew Jesus was equal 
to any emergency, so I quit praying for gradual healing, and com- 
menced a new form of prayer; the substance of which was, "Oh, 
Jesus, remove this fearful itch from within my body." I was now 
entering a new field of faith healing, which is designated miraculous 
and which will be treated in its proper place. The ordinary gradual 
faith healing I had been practicing for several years never failed, in a 
single instance, to begin coming as soon as I began nrayer, but it was 
otherwise when I began praying for healing independent of the phys- 
ical forces of natural life= The answer did not come at once, nor with 
in an hour, or day, or week, for it seemed as if Jesus was deaf to all 
entreaties, and the heavens apneared as brass. But I was in distress, 
and no other power could give relief for I had tried the usual gradual 
faith healing until I knew that success with it was a long way off. 
I knc^w that I was on scriptural ground, and, therefore, somewhere 
within the or ler of divine grace. I was surprised, and then almost 
astonished that the answer was delayed so long, but still held on to my 
new form of prayer, until one night after spending a long season in 
])rayer for the innnediate cure of the fearful itch, I retired to rest. 
When I arose the next morning, the terril)lc itch was gone, leaving 
scarcely a trace of its svmntoms behind. I never knew when the an- 
swer came, except that the work w;is done during the night, nor did I 
ever know whether or not the answer was instantaneous or rapidly 
gradual. 

DISEASE NO. 10 

Was the La Grippe that spr<'\ad so rapidly over Europe and Amer- 
ica early in the year 1890. Like the itch described above, it allied 
and conjoined itself so clos(dy with the old debility, that ordinary 
gradual healing could not remove one without the other. From the 
time 1 recovered from the dyspepsia, in 1875, the old debility mani- 
fested a continual disposition to produce sneezing and cold, and this 



16 

prtMlisposition remained until the last traces of it were removed. 
During these fifteen years I was attacked by hundreds of these sneez- 
ing spells, lollowed by cold, and frequently the sp(dls of cold would be 
so severe that they would ahnost prostrate me. They came regard- 
less of the weather, for I was attacked by them equally as readily in 
hot weather as in cold weather. I was, therefore, a ripe subject for a 
bad spell of la iirippe long before it started on its travels over Europe 
and America; and when it entered Texas I soon caught the contagion, 
and was prostrated with it. When I was attacked I paid little atten- 
tion to it for several days, for the symptoms, although new and strange, 
were not at first suspected; but time soon convinced me that I had a 
new enemy to fight, and as I had ])reviously experienced with the 
itch, there was a continual succession of improvements and relapses 
until I became wearied with the contest. As soon as improvement 
progressed to a certain point, I would begin sneezing and taking cold, 
and within a few hours relapse to the original point from which I 
started; rendering me so weak from the effects of cold th;it I had barel}- 
strength enough left to walk. At last, as with the itch, I began prayer 
for the higher order of healing, which I term miraculous, because it 
works above and indt pendent of the co-operation which life force al- 
ways furnishes to gradual healing, and which gradual faith healing 
always respects, and never violates. I continued the new form of 
prayer one or two weeks before T realized a paiticle of answxn-; and 
when it came, it came suddenly, did the work rapidly, and was soon 
gone. I distinctly felt its first touch, and kn(^w about the time it fin- 
ished its work and departed, leaving me, not entirely well, but so near 
it that ordinary faith healing soon finished the job, and banished 
la grippe permanently from my body. Friends, wh:) also had it, fi-e- 
quently urged me to take medicine, but I refused to touch it, and by 
trusting in divine healing, recovered from a disease in which medicine 
would have been as powerless as rain water. The above two cases, 
the itch and grippe, were both acute diseases; but were so closely con- 
joined to a fearful old (chronic disease -that nothini': but divine power 
could separate them, and cure one without the other. H-Ad it not been 
for divine healing (nther one, or both of them, would have become 
chronic and permanent, and, probably, would have sto])ped Ihe grndii- 
al healing of my old debility, and rendered a cure impc^ssible exce] t 
by a display of miraculous ])ower. 

KEMATJKvS. 

During nil th( se years of c(~)nliict with chronic diseases, they r(Mi- 
dei'ed my system a ready prey for all manner of acute attacks, .and 
they were not slow to come; for I had many of them. There is no 
doubt in my mind that many of those attacks would have increased to 
obstinate^ d seases, and brought me down to the grave; but when they 
came 1 was armed and ready to meet them, and with tli(^ excei)tion of 
two or three spells of inflamation of th(^ stomach, they were all ni[)})ed 
in the bud, and before they ha<i time to ass(M"t their f)ow(M'. My sys- 
tem was so completely wrecked with old chi'onic disc s(^s that a slight 
cut or bruise was frequently difiieult to heal without jirayer: but Jesus 
nev(>r, in a single instance, failed to give healing to ihe most insignifi- 



17 

cant pain whenever I prayed for it. Neither did I ever resort to any 
form of h3^giene treatment more than ordinary care of the body; except 
with the dyspepsia, and this ^yas hjng before I learned the way of 
healing by prayer and faith. This is now the close of the year 1890, 
and at this writing all the fearful diseases mentioned above are gone, 
and I am a sound healthy, hale, hearty man; and unlike ninet^^-nine 
hundredths of men at my age, 48, I am now at this writing free from 
all conscious traces of disease. Had I not been deceived by my old de- 
bility, I would have never suffered sa long with it, for it w^ould have 
received the same miraculous healing that was given to the itch and 
la grippe; for I would have never depended on gradual faith healing, 
which is extremely slow in the healing of chronic diseases. I did some- 
times seek the miraculous and immediate form, but it was probably 
never prosecuted lono enough to obtain the necessary answer. My old 
debility was wonderfully deceptive, for it w^as like a little small stream 
issuing from a great, reserved, secret fountain, and letting out only a 
few drops of its venom at a time. Thus it was that for ten long years 
I relied solely on gradual faith healing; and this only sought and re- 
ceived occasionally as straggling opportunities permitted. In 1884, I 
published a 16 page pamphlet on Divine Healing, and, in it stated 
that my health was restored, and in so doing I made a mistake, and did 
wrong, for my old debility was only half cured. The cause of the 
mistake was the deceitful character of the disease, for when I prepared 
my manuscript for publication I did not have means to publish it at 
once, and thought I was so near recovered that the cure would be com- 
plete by the time it went before the public. 

THE EASE OF MY PRAYER. 

In the year 1880, after ten years of investigation and inquiry, I 
commenced on my subsequent progress in faith healing, and I then had 
many doubts and misgivings, but 1 continually pushed investigation 
and took delight in the best school on earth: the school of experience. 
As time passed, progress continued, and step after step I w^as able to 
add to my little stock of knowledge until doubts changed into confi- 
dence, theories into facts, narrow fields into wide ones, and ignorance 
into education. Then it was that every time I bowed before Jesus for 
physical healing I realized that I was talking to him face to face, and 
for several years past I have always approached him on the subject 
with a degree of ease that I can scarcely find language to express. It 
has been like the freedom experienced in partaking of cool water from 
a great overflowing fountain, or like the freedom of the lungs basking 
in the midst of a pure atmosphere fifty miles deep. For years no such 
a thing as a doubt, fear, misgiving, or any perhapses or probabilities 
have even ruffled my thoughts while in prayer before Jesus for the 
healing of disease in my ow^n body, or for others. 

HEALING AND MIRACLES. 

Healing and miracles are separate and distinct acts, and were sepa- 
rated in the early statjes of christia(.ity, for we read in I Cor. twelveth 
chapter that some had the gift of healing while others had the gift of 
miracles. Now these are two separate and distinct forms of divine 



h(\ilina-, and arc distinctly ;ind separately nicntioncMl l)y St. Panl. and 
never, until they are understood, and separated ])v ciiristians, ^vill tlie 
church rise in her majesty and l)an!sh disease from th(^ earth. If any 
one wishes to become successful in liealinu" l)y faith, hv must learn the 
diiTerence, or he will be liaJ)]e to failures and discourao-ements. I he- 
liev(\ t])at l^y experience. I hav(^ (2:ained a complete an 1 thoi-ou<jh 
knowledge of the differenc(^ between them, fori have pcM'sonally ex- 
|)(M-i(>nc(Ml Ix/tli of tliem in tlie 'healini;- of my own bodv, and conse- 
quently am prepannl to give the experience ef actual facts. 

FAITH HEALING. 

Faitii luMilinii,- is always gradual, and, I l:)elieve, never does auy- 
thing more than I'emove ()1)struetions heaving what natural, physical, or 
animal life tliere is in tl^e diseased organ to ]-ecover its natural state of 
vitality unaided and alone, I also believe that when medicine is ef- 
iec^tual in the removal of disease it acts exactly the same way, and 
when recovery +Vom disease occurs without aid the natural vital forces 
of life does it by overcoming, and thereby removing obstructions. Phi- 
losophy teaches that motion opc^ started would flow on forever if there 
were no obsti'uctions, and I believe that the same law will ap])ly to lif(^ 
in all its created forms. There is an active and a passive in ev(u\v or- 
dinai-y motion. The active acts, and the ])assive resists, and when 
the passive overcomes the active nrotion ceases, and I believe^ it is th(> 
same in all forms of finite life. There is a ]:)erpetual action and rea^« 
tion in all ordinarv motioii, and I believe it is the same in all forms of 
finite life. When two active nrotions UKu^t, the weakest of the two 
ceases, and b'ecomcs passive, and F b(dieve it is so in all foians of finite 
life. I b:di(^ve that all diseases omc internally from hell, and that 
hell is in all diseases eitlier an active force, or passive resistance ob- 
structing till' motion or force called fiiiiti^ lif(^, and a]l that is necessary 
to care any disease is to remove the active or passive obstruction in 
tlie pathway of physical life. I l>elieve there is a perpetual effort in 
th!> j)hvsieal vitality of life to r(Mnove these obstructions or diseases, 
and when it is not able to do so the reuKn^al must be done by another 
pow(U', or the obstruction will either i-emain, or increase until it de- 
stroys the active principle, or fo]-ee, called life, and wh(>n it destroy;; 
it, we have what is called death, or the extinction of the active princi- 
pl(^ or force, called life. I also believe, and have believed for 9 years, 
that old a,ge is the only divi^nely a,p)):)inted agent of death, and that 
death from old age is accomplished by a continually accumulating jias 
sive resistance to physical Lite, and that it is according to diviiie order, 
and can neve]' be v;ured by any finite ]>ower, and that infinite power 
has ordaincMl it for the good of man. and will nev(M- change it. I be- 
lieve that th(^ ftaturad sun, in its rcdation to eaj'th. is an image of Jesus, 
and tliat the obstructions placed in the ])ath way of life in'odueing old 
ag", :nid finallv death, nvr not produced bv divine ])owe!- any more 
tlian night, darkness, wint'^r and cold ai-e ])roduc(Ml by the natm-al sun: 
and that if it was not for ih;> obstruction^ ]^laced in the iiathway oflif(\ 
producing old age. that life (^n earth would he eternal, just as day and 
sunnner would be etiu'nal if it was ])ossible to ]dace the earth at a 
pn)])e'; angl'^ t ) th'^ sun. ami l.^t it ;■ > n un th TiV i h di"ve that in the- 



19 

cu]ti\-atioD of vi\uetatioti by man, he never invigorates life. Init "his 
whole work in cultivating the-yoil is only to remove obstructions in the 
pathway of vegatable life, and that, therefore, the laws which govern 
animal and vegetable life are practically the same. In all my ex])e- 
rience with gradual healing by faith, I could never perceive any vigor 
or strength impai'ted to the body: and this is the cause of weakness or 
soreness following a season of prayer. In chronic diseases life, or vi- 
tality is partially destroyed, and when obsti'uction is only partially re- 
moved life has been so long in a subdued state it is slow to regain its 
lost force or vigor, but only give it time and it will do it, and gradually 
reach as far as obstruction has been removed, and then it is ready for 
the removal of another portion of obstruction or disease, and thus it 
will continue until all obstruction is removed, and life restored to its 
natural or original state, and we have what is called health. 

REGENERATION OF THE BODY. 

I believe that after the entire suppression of the active principle called 
life, the original acti\e or passive ])rinciple resisting life, and condng 
tVom hell, becomes, or remains active, nroducing what we call decay, 
and that it does not cease until the organic form nrevioush- pro- 
duced b}^ the active principle called life is destroyed, and is reduced to 
its original elements. I believe when the active or passive resistance 
to the active principle called life becomes abnormal, or stronger than it 
should l)e, the active principle called life is impeded in its progress 
and then there follows a deposit of unnatural or foreign sul:)stances in 
the effected organ, producing what we call disease; and the work of faith 
healing, and other curative agents is to restrain the active, or passive 
principle coming from hell, and remove the foreign substance, or force, 
and that the removal of this foi-eign substance or force, coming from 
hell, and in the diseased organ is the regeneration o!" tlie l)*)dy. It ex- 
actly corresponds to the regeneration of the soul, whieli new church 
theology teaelies is the removal of spiritual substances coming from 
hell, or deposited by hell. And I beliv<> that these theories being true 
it follows as a potent. indisputal)le argument, that the prayer of faith 
should be the principle force employed in thi^ cure of all forms of bod- 
ily disease, just as it should be employed as a leading element, or force 
in the regeneration of the souL I am Avell satisfied that obstruction in 
the pathway of life is what we call disease, and that every particle of 
it comes internally from hell, but I do not know whetlier the obstruc 
tion is alwavs a ])assiv(^ resistance^ to life, or an active force meeting 
with, and conttmding a^-ainst li!'e. However, I arn inclined to believe 
that the resistance to life is sonietimes an active force, and sometimes 
a passive rcsista.nce. It se-ms tliat in viident sudden attacks (^f disease 
the resistance to life is an active force, while in other cases, and es- 
pi^cially in oldclironic diseases, the resistance to life seems to be sim- 
ply a deposit of foreiu'u sul)stances, and whoUya passive resistance to 
life. The above theories oi" disease and death do not answer the ques- 
tions of instantaneous death from wounds, or diseas(^, nor of death by 
starvation, but this is not the place for th(^se things, because they are 
not all diseas(>s. and mitst be left lov other times and places. The title 
of this book is a leading- object of mv searcli, and, if I have made anv 



20 

mistakes in the above theories I would bo glad to correct them; and 
])0ssibly I have made some, for I never thoroughly investigated them 
until a few days ago when I was brought face to face with th(Mn as 1 
progressed in writing ray manuscript. 

MIRACLES. 

Experience has convinced me that gradual faith healing is confined 
sin-lv and solely to the removal of obstructions in the pathway of life, 
and that it never gives any assistance, whatever, to vitality, farther 
than to clear its pathway of foreign enemies, and leave it free to re- 
cover its lost natural state. lilxpr;ri(^noe has also taught me that mi- 
raculous healing is a higher order of healing than faith healing, and 
that the superiority of th(Oatter form consists in a simultaneous re- 
moval of obstructions, and an equal or parallel giving of strength or 
vigor to life or vitality. Thus in miraculous healing, the removal of 
the disease, and the restoration of strength takes place at the sanu^ 
time, so that in a perfect miraculous healing the subject is enabled to 
\valk f(n-th a sound h(^althy man; but I believe the most of them are 
imperfect miracles, and only lift the subject to a point where faith heal- 
ing niny continue the work in a gradual manner, and thereby accom- 
plish a perfect cure. Experience has also taught me another radical 
difference between them, and it is that faith healing never fails to be- 
gin its work the moment prayer begins, but it generally requires a 
long season of intercession, lasting weeks or months to obtain miracu- 
lous healing. Faith healing is ordinary, miraculous healing extraor- 
<linary. Faith healing is as free to all men as regeneration, or the 
pardon of sin; miraculous healing is reserved, and onl}^ given when 
ihcYv, is a necessity for it. Of course these remarks do not aj)ply to 
the miracailoiis power of Christ and his apostles, because their miracles 
^vel•(> prob.ibly given to assist in the establishment of an infantile 
church, and if there should come other manifestations of the kind in 
the spread of the New pTerusalem over the world, T would not be sur- 
prised. But they force faith, and will, therefore, never be permanent. 
My personal knowledge ^^f miraculous healing is limited, but from 
what I hav(^ experienced myself and read about others, I am convinced 
that it is sometinies instantaneous, and sometimes rapidl}^ gra'lual, or 
finished within a short space of time; and that it removes obstructions 
a.nd im[)arts vitality simultaneously and immediately, while gradual 
faith healing only removes obstructions, and does not im})art any vi- 
tality to the diseased organ. 

EXTREME CASES. 

There might come a point in an}' man's life where neither faith 
healing, or miraculous healing, as given above, would reach him. A 
man or even a strong vigorous young man, might be stricken downi sud- 
denly with disease, and get so near death that vitality would be so 
completely subdued that it could not Adlow the removal of obstruc- 
tions, or disease. Nothing could then save the subject but miraculous 
h.jaling, and there would not be time enough left to gain the kind of 
answer given above for miraculous healing. Having had vjo experi- 
ence with such cases T leave theni for others to tost. But, if I was 
brouirht fac(^ to face with such a case i should cortainlv entreat Jesus 



21 

to give an immediate answer of miraculous healing for nothing else= 
could preserve life. Two years ago a man came to me one day and 
nsked me to pray for the healing of his wife; and I afterwards learned 
that she was then in a dyinii- condition, but he concealed this import- 
ant information. I promised to do so as soon as I got leisure, but told 
him that I did not profess to raise the dead; yet, he still concealed her 
C(^ndition. Three hours later I spent a season of prayer for her recov- 
ery, but the next morning T learned she was dead From other expe- 
rience I am satisfied that the healing acted on her system to some ex- 
tent, but the force of the disease was so strong that it had no percept- 
ible influence. If a man should get his arm chopped off, T. do not sup- 
pose that prayer would restore it, for thf.t would necessitate the creation 
of new flesh, and not the healing of disease; and if a child should have 
a ])art of the body injured, so that growth would cease, and remain that 
way until tlie balance of the body was matured, I do not suppose that 
prayer would do any good, because it would also necessitate the crea- 
tion of new flesh; and not the healing of disease. In 1884 I received 
several letters from a preacher up North, Avhohad read one of my pam- 
phlets. His ,^on was in this condition, but I utterly refused to have 
anythin'j to do with the case. But if I was afflicted with any kind of a 
chronic disease under the sun, and there was no deficiency of flesh I 
would not hesitate to carry it to Jesus in prayer; and seek either faith 
heal ng, or miraculous healing as the case might require. 

DISCOVERIES. 

In addition to what has already been given, Jesus led me to make a 
number of additional discoveries. Soon a^'ter the work commenced I 
became so deeply interested that I determined to unravel the problem, 
solve the mystei-y, and go to the bottom, sides ends and extremities of 
the whole matter; but I had little idea that such a vast field of inquiry 
was befoi-e me, and knew little of the task I had undertaken until 
slowly and gradually I went along gaining points, and every point ex- 
hibiting the provid(\-itial care of Jesus in the temporal welfare of the 
body as well as the s})iritual welfare of the soul. I learned more and 
more thafman was a free agent, and that if he wants special helj) from 
Jesus in temporal affairs, he must seek it, just the same as in the spirit- 
ual affairs of the soul. Many lessons were learned, someof which have 
been given, but others are yet to follow, and then only a small portion 
of divine goodness in temporal life can be mentioned. 

LESSON NO. 1 

Has taught me that nearly all the pra3^ers I ever heard for th'j cur(^ 
of disease were failures, simply and solely., for the want of correct ideas 
on the subject: and that, like everything else requiring voluntary effort, 
the first step towaids success is to not only know, but thoroughly un- 
(h^rstand the subject. Success is then only possible, for knowledge 
witliout i)ractice is wc^rtli uf^thing to any man, or any thing, for it is 
a m(M(» ideal 'brm until it is put into "practice. There is a v?o-ne idea 
''f iaith healiuL' in the mind of the christian public, for w^hen men were 
brnuglit face to face with death, thousands and millioi-s of them have 
called on Je^us for the healing of the body, and tbe,-e is probably never 
a day passes in which there are not hundreds and thousands of these 



99 



extreme eases. Men will laugh at faith healing, deride it, scoff at it, 
call its advocates fools and fanatics, and pass it by as the carrion vult- 
ure does the perfume of the rose, but in the last extremity, and es- 
pecially if it comes suddenly and unanticipated, the}^ will make a 
feeble effort to put faith healing into practice. Tn such an hour of trial 
if they onlyhacl correct understanding of the road to success, it might 
be obtained in a large majority of cases; but when they have only a 
vague idea of the way, the effort is only the grasping of a drowning man 
at a floating straw. There is alwa^'s a failure, but Jesus is not respon- 
sible, for he stands in relation to the body just as he does in relation to 
the soul, just as ready to heal the body of physical disease as he is to 
heal the soul of spiritual disease. His willingness is an Infinite Wil- 
lingness, and cannot be increased or diminished, because infinity does 
not admit of either, and, therefore, it has an infinite relation to both 
soul and body. 

LESSON NO, 2 

Has tau''ht me that intellis^ent effort is necessary in all voluntary 
departments of human life, but not so in the involuntary. Jesus carries 
on the beating of the heart, breathing of the lungs, circulation of the 
blood, digestion of food, and a million of minor thinirs, in all living or- 
ganic forms, without voluntary effort; and it is done as well for the ig- 
norant as for the wise, and in the vegetable kingdom as in the animal 
kinojdom. But it is otherwise in those departments of life requiring 
voluntary effort, for in these both knowledge and effort are necessary, 
and the more perfect the knowledge with a corresponding effort the 
more perfect will be the result. Healing of the body by the prayer of 
faith is one of the voluntary departments of b'fe, and must be intelli- 
gently learned and intelliiyently practiced before success can be accom- 
plished, and if it's not done man is in fault and not Jesus. From long 
experience I can assure any inquirer that he can go right straight to 
Jesus without one moment of hesitation, or consultation with any mor- 
tal, and receive his healing power on the body, if not as quickly, yet 
just as freely as he can open his eyes and take in the light, open his 
lungs and take in the air, or open his mouth and take in a draught of 
cool water. Experience has convinced me that healing power on the 
body will be given t(^ all men, when the conditions are met equally as 
freely as these universal elements of nature are given. But, as long as 
he keeps his eyes closed the light will shine around him, and do him 
no good; 30 it is with the healing power. As long as he keeps his lungs 
closed the air will surround him, but not flow in; so it is with the 
healing power As long as he keeps his mouth closed in vain he may 
desire to taste a draaght of cool water; so it is with the healing power. 
To accomplish anything within the voluntary department of life an 
effort is not only necessary, but it must be of the right kind; and if it is 
not of the right kind failure will follow. The conditions of gaining 
wisdom are, that a man must study, and if he fails to do it, he will re- 
main ignorant. The conditions for reaping a harvest are that the 
farmer must plant the grain, and cultivate soil, and do it in the right 
w^ay, and if he fails to comply, he will receive no return. All through 
the long and weary ages men have been suffering the pains of sickness 



and premature death, while healing power has been as near them, and 
as freely within their reach as water, air or sunshine; and all they 
needed to cure all of it was knowledge and a corresponding effort. 

LESSON NO. 3 

Has taught me that prayer must be offered every day until the re- 
covery is complete, and, that there must absolutely, and uncondition- 
ally, be enough of it. A half dozen words, or sentences are not enough 
for the petitioner must not only pray, but remain in prayer a consid- 
erable while, and leave off every other subject. To each patient and 
to each disease of the same patient, the petitioner should daily devote 
one, two or three seasons of prayer; and they should not be short ones. 
Let him be certain to mix nothing else with this prayer, for unless he 
does enough of praying there will most certainh^, and assuredly, be no 
cure. Here is the greatest stumbling block of those who fail. They 
go to prayer, mix up a dozen of requests in the same petition, devote 
only a few words to the removal of the disease, and then declare they 
do not believe it is the will of Jesus to cure the patient. If the pe- 
titioner wishes to be successful let him note this paragraph closer than 
any other in the book, for nothing in the whole matter equals its im- 
portance. If he does not follow^ the instructions here given, he will 
make a miserable Silfere, excuse himself, lay the blame on providence 
or something else, and ^then go about doing all he can to discourage 
other people. 

LESSON NO. 4 

Has taught me that like everything else in nature, and throughout 
the universe, the healing of disease b}^ the praj^er of faith is governed 
by the laws of quantity and quality. Quantity being equal power is in 
proportion to quality, and quality being equal power is in proportion to 
quantity. Tnere is nothing in the whole universe to which these laws 
do not invariably apply, so faith healing is equally subject to them, 
Then the quantity of prayer offered by the petitioner being equal heal- 
ing power will be applied according to the quality of the prayer, and 
the quality of the prayer offered by the petitioner being equal healing 
power will be applied according to to the quantity of the prayer. When 
people engage in prayer they are generally subject, more or less, to 
straggling thoughts, and when these are permitted they always detract 
from the quality of the prayer, just the same as when doubts are tol- 
erated. 

LESSON NO. .5 

Has taught me that in faith healing it does not do well to hurr}^ 
some old chronic disease to(^ fast, for in some of them, soon after heal- 
ing power is applied to any considerable extent, the effected parts be 
come either intensely sore, or intensely weak, and if too much prayer 
is offered nt one time, the soreness or weakness will lincrease until a 
relapse is liable to ensue. Right here one who has mo experience is 
liable to lose his faiTh, because discou]-ag<Ml, give rJ) the effort, and 
turn back. Unless he is properly informed, he may mke this soreness 
or weakness a'^ an evidence of failure, or as an cvidc^ice that Jesus is 
angrv with hini. uh(M"(\'^s it i> '^xnctly the reverse, "■••rrl to enlist a 
good brother niethodist in Philadelphia, who wai- ■ a low state of 



24 

(^lironic affliclioD; but he became diseouraged from this cause, and could 
uot be induced to yuosecute his desired object any farther. There is 
little danger of this kind in acute diseases, i^^v when life has not been 
long in a subdued state, it closely follows the removal of obstructions 
.with strength and vigor; but in old chronic diseases life, having been in 
a subdued state so long, is slow to follow the removal of obstructions, 
and, tlierefore, permits soreness or weakness to go temporarily in ad- 

V-MlCM of it 

LESSON NO. 6 

Has taught n:e that pray.'r offered for the healing of others is effect- 
ual. We are frequently taught in the Bible to pray for others, and for 
the coming of Christ's kingdom, which means that we should pray for 
tJie conversion and i-egencration of our fellow man. It will be found 
above that I liad much experience in praying for healing on others as 
well as on myself, and as far as I was able to judge I could discern no 
difference between the answers received for my own healing, and for 
the healing of others. Why this is so I cannot tell, but it is certainly 
in accordaiice with botli sci-ipture and experience. I also found that it 
was unnecessary to -isk th(^ consent of others before offering prayer for 
the healing of their bodies: and such prayei- I found to be equally as 
effectual as prayer oiiered ,or my own healing; and I also found that I 
could proviil !or the healing of disease on a wicked man, for the most 
of the cases I experimented v/ith were wicked men, and do not know 
until this day that I prayed for the healing of their bodies. Neither 
can I tell why this is so. bat I am trying to deal in facts, and this ef- 
fort makes such statements necessary. If a wicked man wanted to 
pray for the healing o " lii-^ own body, or for the healing c»f others, it 
would be necessary for hi a to first renounce sin, and afterwards carry 
his diseased body before Jesu^ ;br healing. Lest this doctrine should 
be improperly assailed, I would st:ite that we are commanded to pray 
for the salvation of Llie ob.rLinite sinner, and to "pray for those who 
despitefully use us, and persecute us " and if our prayer does not act on 
their souls, then it is mockery, and useless. If then prayer for the ob- 
stinate wicked has any effect on their souls, it will also effect their 
bodies when offered for the healing of disease, and he who denies it, 
denies the teaching of Christ. The church and all religious people al- 
so pray for the conversion of the wayward sinner, and if such prayer 
has no effect on the soul of the wicked, then it is wrong; so my expe- 
rience in praying for the diseased wicked is sanctioned by scripture, the 
church and experience. 

'lesson no. 7 

Hjis taught me that when the quality of prayer is good ordinary, 
gradual faith healing commences taking effect as soon as prayer com- 
mences, and continues as long as prayer continues, but, th'^t generally 
it is best to spendpnly one, two, or three seasons a^day in prayer, and, 
that if the quality|t)f prayer remains good, and the seasons are not too 
short, and the violence of the disea e is not strong enough to require 
miraculous heal in A. effectual healing of the body is as certain as the 
needle is to the pMe; as certain as the sun is to rise in the East at Mis 
appointed time, ami as certain as anything can be, or ever will be on 



25 

the top side of this green earth. It has also taught me that this is not 
the case with miraculous healing, but that miraculous healing, being 
above ordinary order, is held by divine authority more in reserve, and 
from some cause, which I do not understand, it is given only after con- 
tinued daily seasons of prayer and intercession for a length of time, 
more or less, indefinite; and, that when it is given, it is generally given 
sparingly and imperfectly, leaving faith healing to finish the work; and 
that gradual faith healing may be continued in such a case until the last, 
lingering remnant of disease is removed, and perfect health of the dis- 
eased organ be completely restored. 

LESSON NO. 8 

Has taught me that when faith healing is properly sought by a re- 
ligious person, it is invariably applied in all stages o'flife; and for the 
cure of any and all lorms and stages of disease except age; but, that in 
its action, it is finite and limited. That if the active power of the 
disease is strong enough to overcome the utmost strength of faith heal- 
ing, yet. notwithstanding its inefiiciency in such cases, it will act on any 
disease under the sun, except age; breath in the body, the presence of 
disease, and an acceptable prayer being the only conditions necessary 
to insure action. When properly sought b}^ a religious person, I be- 
lieve it will act in any and all cases, even where its influence is imper- 
ceptible, and has not the faintest shadow of probable success. But, of 
course, such an extreme case is only opinion, and not experience. 
Throw a pebble against a mountain, and its force will act toward over- 
turning the mountain, although its action is not perceptible, and there 
is not the shadow of possible success in the efi'ort; so it is, I believe, in 
the action of faith liealing. I have also learned that the end of gradual 
faith healing power is the point of miraculous healing, and that mirac- 
ulous healing, when properly sought, is unlil^e gradual faith healing, in, 
that it has no limits or bounds that I am able to find in scripture or ex- 
perience, except divine order. As a matter of course, it must be sought 
within divine order, which never violates either reason or revelation, 
and when it is sought within these limits there is no disease beyond 
the limits of faith healing that it cannot reach except old age. 

LESSON NO. 9 

Has taught me that there are probably some chronic diseases that 
faith healing can never cure, or even if it could, that the recovery 
would be so slow, and the time required to remove the disease be so 
long, that it would probably be best to seek miraculous healing at once. 
A case of this kind might be an arm that was paralized a long time, and 
Ihe active life force of the member be so near completely suppressed, 
that even if faith healing could remove the obstructions to life, yet life 
would not have sufficient vitality to recover a normal state; and this 
difficulty would increase with age. In such a case as this, it would be 
advisable to seek miraculous healing, and, if it made only an imperfect 
cure, either try it over again, or complete the work with ordinary faith 
h(\aling. In the two cases of my lung disease and old debility, both 
old chronic diseases, the former recovered within a few^ m(mths w^hile 
the latter, under the sa,me treatment, but only occnsinnidly. was so ob- 
stinate that it required ten years to remove it. Had I been in posses- 



26 

sion of the same knowledge at the start that I have since gained, I 
should have sought miraculous healing on the old debility at the start, 
and probably thereby saved myself many years of struggle and trial 
with a fearful disease. I never had much experience with chronic dis- 
eases in others, and but a few cases in my own person, so it may be 
that my knowledge on miraculous healing is still limited, and, it might, 
therefore, be a fact, that miraculous healing could be obtained on all, 
(n- nearly all chronic diseases; enough, at least, to place them where 
ordinary faith healing could finish the work within a short time. But, 
after all, let him who undertakes to remove an old chronic disease b}- 
prayer, know that he has a heavy task before him, for they will not re- 
cover by faith healing anything like as fast as acute diseases; and if he 
is not careful he will stop before he secures a perfect cure. Let him 
also know and remember, and not forget to know and remember, that it 
generally requires a long season of intercession, lasting probably for 
weeks or months to obtain miraculous healing; and during all this time, 
he will not perceive the least sign of miraculous healing until it falls 
suddenly on him either instantaneously, or rapidly gradual. "This 
kind goeth not forth bat by fasting and prayer." 

LESSON NO. 10 
Has taught me that there need not be any more chronic diseases of 
any kind; and also, that there need not be an}^ more acute diseases ex- 
cept those that come suddenly and without warning. Nearly all dis- 
eases send ])remonitory symptoms in advance of their attack, and, if 
the intended subject is properly informed he can nip them in the bud, 
and thus destroy even the possibility of sickness, and save himself the 
pain of suffering with disease, and the time and trouble of removing 
them. Chronic diseases are also, in all cases, first acute, and if they 
can all be cured l)efore they reach the chronic state, it follows, as a 
conclusion, that the human race may effectually and forever banish 
then] from our earth, and when the stock now on hand is exhausted by 
the death of the subjects, or the healing of their diseases, we may then 
have no more of them. 

LESSON NO. 11 

Has tnught me that the attack of some diseases is so sudden, and, 
at the same time so. violent that ordinary faith healing cannot have 
much effect, or do much in relieving the subject; and that unless extra- 
ordinary miraculous healing can be obtained at once little relief can be 
obtained from divine healing, and the subject will, therefore, get some 
relief from other healing agents, which may be made to co-o})erate with 
gradual faith healing; and then trust to the natural vital force of life to 
throw off the remainder of the disease, over and above what the agents 
remove. For example; 'A congestive chill generally comes suddenjy, 
without warning, and with great violence. I have heard it said, but do 
not know how true it is, that, out of three successive attacks, the first, 
second or third always kills, and never fails. I know that quinine, and 
kindred medicines do generally cure chills, when properly taken; and, 
if I was present in a case of congestive chills I would certainly advise 
its use. and the use of hygiene, both in connection with faith healing to 
prevent the coming of another attack; and if there were forty other 



remedies known to be valuable I should advise the use of enough of 
them to fortify the patient aoainst the possibility of another attack. 
The cause of such advice would not be that I mistiusted the reality of 
faith healing, but because the danger would be so great, that an efficient 
remedy should be used, and if medicine was known to be an effective 
remedy, or only partially effective, I should combine as many of such 
ao;ents as possible with faith healing, because miraculous healing might 
be too slow, and faith healing too weak; and the danger would be too 
great to risk experiments. This is all I can say under the circum- 
stances, but if I could experience some such attacks in my own person, 
I might be prepared to act differently in such cases. I have never se^^n 
any medicine, or anything else that would entirely break a chill after it 
comes, but generally they may be easily stopped if proper remedies are 
used between spells. T have frequently tried gradual faith healing on 
chills after they came, and always found that they could be modified 
considerably by abstainino- entirely from water and labor and vigor- 
ously seeking divine power. There are probably some other diseases 
to which these remarks miuht a]^]>ly- but we have enough on this sub- 
ject. But let it be remembered that this is a supposed case in which a 
violent sudden attack is made placing life in a critical condition, and 
that these remarks apply to such cases alone, and to no others. 

LESSON xo. 12 
Has taught me that there are chronic diseases, as well as acute dis- 
eases, that make periodical attacks, and, that they must be properly 
understood >)efore they can be cured by faith healing. Among this 
number is a periodical attack of sick headache, chronic diarrhoea, and 
many others of which I know little or nothing. Generally, the sub- 
ject is attacked by a s]:)ell, but recovers, and like the period between 
chills, he does not feel any of their effects until he is again attacked, 
and thus he goes on, each successive spell getting either heavier or 
lighter until he finally either dies or recovers his health. In such dis- 
eases the important time to work is between spells; just as it should be 
with chills. Tl^en if the subject has either chills or periodical chronic 
spells, as soon as a spell is over let him engage in zealous, daily sea- 
sons of prayer for the removal of the disease, and all remains of it from 
his system; for. let him be assured, that as long as the disease comes in 
spells, it is still in his system between spells. Let him remember then, 
that the time to work i between spells, even though they be months 
apart: and if he will follow this advice, and take proper care of the 
body, a cure will be effected every time for chills, and all other peri- 
odical diseases. I once witnessed an interesting case of this kind. I 
was acquainted with a ])rea(>her who siifi'ered with periodical, chronic 
attacks. I talked to him anumbe-; of times on the subject of faith 
healino-. nnd iiave him one of my published ]^amphlets on that subject. 
He ofiered to ])av me if I would cure him. but this I positively .efused. 
tellinii-him that lie could do the work as efficiently as I could, and. that 
bf^ino- a ]U'eacher himself, if he did not prav for himself, he might con- 
tinue to suffer. Soon after this I had reason to believe he was testing- 
faith healing, although he never acknowledged ^\ "^m" lie still con- 
tinued to have his spells until he took an unusually h:-d ^ lu . nnd came 



28 

near dying; and the next time I saw him he told me he was calculating 
to go up to heaven soon. I then came to the conclusion that he did 
not understand the work, so I went to him again and told him that be- 
tween spell,- the (Hsease was still in his system, and that the proper 
tinif i'-'V him to employ faith healing was between spells, and that he 
ou'jht to ('(»nim(Mi(*(' as soon as the spell was over, and push the prayer 
of faith healimi with diligence, and that if he wouid do this, he could 
soon eui'e the disease; and remove the last remains of it from his body. 
After that he never had another spell, nor did he ever mention the 
subject to me again. This is the way every one of them have treated 
me who read and practiced the advice given in my pamphlet. I have 
been satisfied that this preacher was cured by the power of faith heal- 
ing, but, after having many opportunities to inform me of the fact, and 
refusing to do so, I disdained to ask him anything about it. 

LESSON NO. 13 
Has taught me that some diseases are irritated by improper eating 
or drinking to such an extent that they destro\^ the effect of faith heal- 
ing as fast as it is applied. Among this cIlss are dyspepsia, and diar- 
rhoea. In cases of dyspepsia the stomach is kept irritated by either too 
much food, or the wrong kind; and, it is frequently done three times a 
day, so that when faith healing is applied, its effect is destroyed 
as fast as the application is made. A correct diet is, the refore, the first 
step to be taken in dyspepsia, and when it is adopted faith healing 
may be sought and obtained in connection with it; and if there is another 
disease producin<jj the dyspepsia it must also be healed. In nearh^ all 
the cases of diarrhoea I have known, the bowels have been kept irrita- 
ted by eating or drinkityij something that does not agree with them, 
and in the most cases I have known, it has been an inordinate drinking 
of water. The disease creates fever, and the fever creates thirst, more 
or less intense, and then there generally follows the drinking of large 
quantities of water which only inflames and aggravates the disease. In 
such cases the effects of faith healin-jj ard either impeded or destroyed 
as fast as they are applied. Other examples of the same kind may fre- 
quently be found in d )ctors medicine. Before I learned the way of 
faith healinoj, I believe that, at virions times, I personally witnessed 
the death of one man, and two (^hild',-en, who wore actually drugged to 
death by doctors; and this was mv opinion when I saw them die. Such 
cases would be exi'^tly like the above cases of liirrhoei and dyspepsia. 
Healing would b ^ nnplied, but it^ effe^t^ would b? either impeded, or 
destroyed as fa^t as they vv 3re received. But even in such cases, I 
believe that an unusual effort, and a corresponding application of 
healing: power might frequently overcome the counteracting force, and, 
heal the diseased organ; and, if.it did not, it would be sure to modify 
the effects of the disease, for my experience has been that when faith 
healing is properly souiJ^ht, it will always be applied to the removal of 
disease. If the one who prays is a religious person, and does it in the 
right way, the application will always be made, even when the coun- 
teracting influences banish all hope of success, for I have, temporarily, 
experienced such cases in my own person, and especiall}^ in chills. 



29 

LESSON NO. 14 

Has tanght me, that in some diseases weakness, soreness, nervous- 
ness, excessive hunger or unusual sleepiness will sometimes folloNV the 
application of faith healing to some chronic diseases, but not to all of 
them, and very rarely, if ever, in cases of acute healing. The cause 
of these symptoms has been already stated, and need not be repeated, 
but it certainly proves the fact of faith healing beyond the possibility 
of intelligent dispute. This effect occurred regularly in the first stages 
of curing mv lungs, but not in tne last. And all through the first 
stages of recovery, these symptoms not only follower^ each and ever}^ 
application of faith healing to the effected organ, but I had to be care- 
ful not to seek too much of it at once lest the weakness might increase 
to a point where it might produce a relapse. And, ni}^ old debility be 
ing of such a character as to penetrate every particle of my flesh, for 
ten long years, while I was occasionally seeking faith healing, as cir- 
cumstances permitted, I had to be careful lest the application of too 
much healing would prostrate me, and render me unable to perform 
the incumbent necessities of my employment. Throughout the first 
stages of restoring my lungs to health, and throughout the ten years of 
curing my old debility, not a single instance ever occurred Avhen weak- 
ness did not follow a long season of prayer for faith healing. 
Where then is the man that can be such a dupe as to say I was mis- 
taken? He might affirm that I had told a wilful falsehood, but when 
he says I was mistaken, or crazy on the- subject, he only assumes a 
l)osition that ought to consign him to the company of lunatics. In ad- 
dition to these symptoms, I could generally feel the application of 
healing power while I was in the act of pra^yer, and never experienced 
it at any other time, but this sensation was more distinct in the lung 
disease than in any other, and was almost entirely absent in the curing 
of some other of my chronic diseases. Here is food for the hungry, water 
for the thirsty, and rest f ; r the weary. If the reader is suffering with 
an old chronic disease, and hungry for relief, and wearied to know 
whether or not the possibility of faith healing is a reality, he may be 
able to test it within twenty-four hours; for let him note carefully all 
his symptoms; then go into his closet, and spend one hour in pra^^er for 
the healing of his disease, and then again note the symptoms of the 
disease for the next twenty- four hours. If any or all the above symp- 
toms follow, or any others not enumerated in this article he may reas- 
onably suppose that he has been successful at a throne of grace. How- 
ever, these symptoms should not be depended on, for they are general- 
ly absent in the cure of acute diseases, and may be absent in the heal- 
ing of some chronic cases, for I have stated only a, few of the many dis- 
eases that assail the human race. 

LESSON NO. 15 

Has taught me, that it is just as necessary to take good care of the 
body, as it is in a case of medical treatment. Dieting, exercise and 
temperature should be strictly observed, for failing to do these things, 
a relapse is equally as liable to occur as in a case of medical treatment. 
This is especially so in old chronic diseases of the ir;n:r-. for as soon as 
recoverv begins, the lungs will become intense] v sv)re an J ,VL>ak. and as 



80 

long- as healinpj power is applied, to any great extent, the soreness will 
remain, and be continually liable to suffer injury with the slightest ex- 
posure, or over exercise. 

LESSON NO, 16 

Has taught me. that if the patient is suff'ering with more than one 
disease, it is best to pray for the healing of each disease separately, and 
not include all of them in one petition. It is best to know the charac- 
ter of the disease, and the part of the body affected, for my experience 
has been that the healing power w^ill be applied according to the idea 
in the mind of the petitioner. If a false idea of the disease is enter- 
tained, or the part eff"ected is unknown, the healing will be imperfect; 
but in such cases the petitioner may so frame his idea of the disease 
in a general form as to be sure it is included. The petitioner should al- 
so have daily information from the patient, but when it cannot be had, 
he may be zealous enough to prosecute his petition until the disease is 
entirely and successfully removed. 

LESSON NO. 17 

Has taught me, if sickness is avoided, time must be taken by the 
forelock, for nearly all diseases send their premonitory symptoms 
ahead, and thereby notify the intended victim of their approach. As 
sooD, therefore, as pains announce the approach of sickness, no one 
should wait until he is down in bed, but immediately engage in prayer, 
and never cease his importunity until the disease is nipped in the bud. 
"An ounce of preventative will save a pound of cure, and a stitch in 
time will save nine.' Probably accidents will never cease, and more or 
less of our race may continue to be killed by them; but when there is 
sufficient time left for prayer, no one who knows the way of faith heal- 
ing need to either die or suffer with the pains of sickness; and even the 
pains that usually accompany death by old age may, probably, be so 
removed by prayer that the old saint will gently fall to sleep. 

LESSON NO. 18 

Has taught me, that the diseases of domestic animals originate and 
sprinu from the same source that produces diseases in man, and that 
faith healing may be equally as effective in curing them of sickness as 
it is in curing the human race. I have not had much experience in this 
line of faith healing, for, after I tried, and succeeded in a number of 
interesting cases I was satisfied with the results, and was assured of its 
possibility, so I did not pursue it any farther. I couid relate these 
cases, but scripture tells us that the things of Jesus are foolishness to 
the world; so I have already put about as much in this book as men 
will be willing to receive, and I had better omit my experiments with 
domestic animals. 

LESSON NO. 19 

Has taught me, that faith healing may be applied, when properly 
sought by a religious person, to all the little as well as the great ills of 
the body. When the servant of Jesns approaches him for the cure of 
disease, he gives both assent and consent for the cure v)f all diseases un- 
der the sun, except old age. He will not only hear, and send the pow- 
er for the cure of consumption in the last stage, but, also for a slight 
cold: and not onlv for tlu^ cure of a i^reat cancer, but. also for tlie cuic 



31 

of a little boil; and not only for the cure of hydrophobia, or the bite of 
a deadly viper, but for the slight sting of a little bee. Neither does it 
make any difference whether the natural life force is able to cure the 
ill or not, or whether the natural life force has already commenced to 
cure the ill or not; if a religious person goes to Jesu^, he hears, an- 
swers and begins the healing at once. The only conditions are a reli- 
gious person to do the praying, and that it be done in the right way, 
and if these conditions are met any disease on the face of the earth, 
great or small may be healed by the prayer of faith. These state- 
ments may be called extravagant, but let the world think what it 
pleases, and say what it pleases, time will vindicate the experience I 
have been gathering almost ever}" day for the last ten years; for, I am 
here relating only experience, and not dealnig in untried theories. If 
Jesus does not do it for every religious ])erson who properly asks it, 
then he has singled me out as a pet object of his grace, and I do not 
believe he ever did, or ever will do that for any man who ever did or 
ever will live, farther than to call some men to perform certain duties. 
His grace for both soul and body are enough for each, enough for all, 
and enough forever more; enough for the little babe, and enough for the 
universe; and there is no necessity for healing one man and passing 
another. 

MODERN MIRACLES. 

There has been published within the last ten years many claims of 
miraculous healing of diseases by both Romanists and Protestants. The 
evidence accompanying these various claims, however, has been vastly 
different; for, as far as I have been able to judge, Rome has accom- 
plished her cures invariably at some shrine, or sacred spot, while every 
case of healing of which I have heard or read among protestants has 
been obtained by prayer and faith and have generally been preceded by 
long seasons of prayer and intercession. These facts make a vast dif- 
ference in the degree of credibility which we find among Romanists 
and Protestants; for one is according to reason while the other is ac- 
cording to the myths for which the Romish church has always been fa- 
mous. Rome has always tried to sustain and uphold her idolatrous 
worship of saints by fables and myths, and these pretended miracles, 
always occurring at some sacred spot, to which the sick travel for hun- 
rlreds of miles, have upon their very face the old threadbare policy of 
upholding and defending the sham worship of Jesus through saints. 
But Protestants heal by prayer and faith, and I believe that nearly all 
their claims have been realities, and it was a few of these that started 
]iie on juy path of inquiry. In the year 1870 I was making my first 
start in connection with church life, but it was not until 1879 that my 
knowled2:e of New church theology was obtained. About the time I 
was making my start in 1870, 1 fell in company with an old Methodist 
brother who lived a few utiles from ray childhood home. He told me 
how he had been instantaneously healed of an old chronic disease that 
threatened his life, and at the time, I knew personally that he was a 
reliable man, and I believer! every word of it. In 1878 I attended the 
Lmdisville campmeetin-j;, in P(^nnsylvania, an'' \v i- thrown into the 
con:i^jany of a young Free ]\[ethodist preacher, whu tuhl me of his ex- 



perience in this line. He had been down with a luni^ disease that not 
owly stopped him from preaching, but sometimes prostrated him. Af- 
ter seeking for miraculous healing for some time, at last, one day at 
noon, he locked himself up in a room, got down on his knees, and went 
to prayer, and at three o'clock walked out of his room with strong 
healthy lungs; and when he told me about it, I saw and heard the sin- 
cere expressioQ of truth a'l.l godly fear in every wori he spoke. Soon 
after this two or three more cases fell under my observation, all of 
which enlisted me more and more on the subject until it terminated in 
substantial personal experience. Now there is no man on earth that 
gained his entire stock of knowledge, or a hundredth part of it wuthout 
taking human testimony. No living man knows anything about the 
things that happened before his birth, except from human testimony; 
.10(1, h.) knows voi'v little about the things of this world happening in 
his own days, (Except fi-oin human testimony; and if we reject all the 
mass of human testimony about miraculous healing since 1880, we are 
at sea on a drift, and know not where we shall go. Pursue the same 
polic}^ in everything, and it will bankrupt all history, all religion, and 
a large portion of science. In human affairs there are reliable evidences 
to sustain all forms of truth; and by which to separate the wheat from 
the chafr*, and give us substantial facts of which there can be no doubt; 
and this subject of faith healing is one oi'them, and is growing in power 
every day, and is destined to sweep this world before it. 

CRUMBLING CREEDS. 

Of the reality of Protestant miraculous healings, as now published 
from time to time by a number of their periodicals, no man properly 
informed has any reasonable grounds of doubt. They are too numer- 
ous, and too well authenticated for any to doubt but the captious and 
i.u-norant, and although there is a strong opposition to them, yet all 
their opponents belong to one or the other of these two classes, and 
ought to have no influence on religious people. The work, however, 
is rapidly bringing about a grand collision of old church and new church 
theology, for the old church teaches that Jesus is a vindictive being; 
that he created hell as a place of punishment for the wicked, and casts 
them into it to gratify his anger, and the demands of his justice; that 
he sends all human misery on both the righteous and wicked, scourg- 
ing the righteous and cursing the wicked alike with sickness, pain, 
premature death, droughts, floods, pestilence, famine and the sword. 
But the new church teaches that hell originated just as sin originated; 
that both of them came from the free will of man, and that all the mis- 
eries of human life are from hell, and produced by hell. When prot- 
estantism separated from Rome, she only transferred the interpretation 
of scripture from popes to councils, and gave little or nothing of it to 
either the ministry or the laity; and has ever kept her ministry in 
chains of slavery, for there is almost no liberty or latitude given to 
either pulpit or pew in the interpretation of the Bible; but this subject 
must be left for its proper place. Faith healing is, therefore, still un- 
der the curse of the t(n-rible falsity that Jesus is vindictive, and sends 
all human misery, including sickness and ])remature death, and ne\er 
until th(^ work acts free iVom that abominable doctrine will it put on 



the arm of strength. Under its influence a sick person imagines his 
sickness to be the will of Jesus, and but few of them can be induced 
to seek relief by prayer; and, if they do they are continually assailed 
witli doubts whether or not their petition is lawful, and these destroy 
the necessary faith. A few preachers are now coming out of that doc- 
trine, but only slowly, and a little at a time, for if they step too far, 
they will be arrayed before a church tribunal, accused of heresy and 
expelled. During the year 1890 I saw the first streak of light on this 
subject when in an editorial of the Vanguard published in St. Louis, it 
was claimed that old age was the heritage of the righteous, and Jesus 
did not send their diseases. A series of articles on the same subject by 
a free Methodist preacher soon followed, showing that the editorial 
soon bore fruit, and that the spirit of inquiry was abroad in the land. 
Previous to the publication of these articles the publication of experi- 
ence was almost the only literature circulated on the subject, but a new 
step has been taken, and new results must follow. These men and 
these articles are the pioneers of the work that will soon shake the 
foundation of tottering creeds, and ultimately tear them from under the 
whole system of old church falsities. Die they must, and die they will, 
for the arm of Jehovah hath decreed it. The abominable doctrine of 
the atonement is founded on a vindictive angry God. The doctrine of 
Three Divine Persons in the Godhead which was in- 
troduced into the Christian church by the council of Nice and its Ath- 
anasian creed brought the dark ages on the world, and has mothered 
the atonement, and all the other abominations of Christendom; for it is 
also connected with an angry, vindictive God. For nonsense and fool- 
ery these doctrines equal the fabulous mvths of Greece and Rome, and 
of Roman Catholic saints; and whenever faith healers accept the doc- 
trine that all sickness comes from hell, it knocks the foundation from 
under the whole fabric of falsities, and down they come in a solid mass 
of ruins making angels shout and devils houl. That day is near at 
hand. The christian church worships either one part of God for the 
sake of another part, or one God for the sake of another God; and if it 
was in anything else than relii^ion people could easily see it; but, in re- 
ligion toan has always been disposed to lay down his reason, and swal- 
low anything that is given him, except common sense; and Christianity 
is not an exception. The new church holds to the doctrine of redemp- 
tion, but utterly repudiates atonement. There is as much differencf^ 
between redemption and atonement as there is between day and night, 
and yet nine-tenths of the preachers think they are idf^ntically the 
same; and nothing more than synonymous words. 

PRESENT STATE OF DIVINE HEALING. 

It is now December 1890 and the date is necessary because the woik 
of faith healing is progressing, and undergoing changes. Divine heal- 
inii; is rapidly spreadin.y;, but, Msa matter of course, as long as falsities 
are retained the work will be hindered, and notwithstanding a few 
leaders are coming out into the light of the truth, yet the masses are 
still under the yoke of bondage, and it will take lon^- and hard work to 
briny: about a i)roper re;"orination o!' dootiine; and wli 11 tin's is accom- 
plished it will not tak(^ long to end the (-eviro Lin^j;(U)m of disease. 



84 

But gradual healing must have its proper place, lor it is universal, and 
within divine order, and cannot be ignored without producing perni- 
cious results. I am well acquainted with the band work in the Free 
Methodist church, and have read ^v few experiences of gradual healing, 
and believe some of the leaders are also out in the light on this subject; 
but they must go slow, or expulsion will be the result, for the iron 
yoke of church discipline is on their necks. The most of the experi- 
ences show that the subjects never resorted to faith healing until it was 
their last chance, and this state of affairs will continue until universal, 
gradual healing is adopted. As far as my knowledge extends, none of 
the official church councils, or periodicals have paid much attention to 
the work, but Jesus is setting the seal of his authority on the labors of 
independent preachers and editors, and they will force the subject on 
the attention of official bodies, and compel its recognition. 

ORIGIN OF THE PRESENT WORK. 

It seems that the work of special healing should have commenced 
in the new church, but such has not been the case. It originated, and 
was develo})ed through its first stages almost entirely by the despised 
Justificationists (Sanctificationists.) Hundreds and thousands who 
are now zealous in the work outside of the justification (sanctification) 
ranks ridiculed and persecuted it all through its first developments, 
and received it only when successful resistance was no longer possible. 
The reason why Jesus commenced the work in connection with the 
justification (sanctification) work was because they are in the third de- 
gree of grace, or of love and wisdom, while the organized New Jerusa- 
lem church is still grovelling in the first degree. Before the flood there 
was a celestial church on this earth, and Jesus is going to have an- 
other one, and he will make it out of these despised Justificationists 
(Sanctificati(mists.) They are now strong enough to publish and sus- 
tain over thirty periodicals, and although they generally have only a 
small circulation, yet in the aggregate it is large. I join my song with 
the poet by saying, "I belong to this band, hallelujah." With those 
in this experience there is an internal life, love, light, joy, peace and 
conscious union with Jesus which neither tongue nor pen can describe; 
and will never be known, except by those who have it. This work is 
still under the burde]) of old church falsities, and with a few excep- 
tions, seems to be more obstinate in resisting new church doctrines than 
others. I love these people, and ^or twelve years, my soul has been 
crying out: "How long oh Lord, how long before these chosen people 
of thine will receive the truth, and thereby put (m the resistless strengtli 
of thy matchless power; and then sweep the world before them. ' This 
justification (sanctification) work originated, principally, together with 
Methodism, and Methodist revivals. The first Methodist societies 
were organized in 1789, and only four years later in 1748 Swedenbor- 
was called to his work. Methodist revivals, experiences, and church 
government will yet be united in marriage with Swedenborg doctrines, 
and no power can stop the union. They will then girdle the globe, and 
bring every dark corner of this sin cursed earth into the blazing light of 
millennium glory. In the Bible, by the just are meant those in the 
third deo^ree of grace, and by the saints is meant those in the first and 



35 

'Second degrees. It follows then, that justificationists is the scriptural 
and proper name of those in the third degree, and sanctificationists is 
the proper name of those in the first and second degrees, and in this 
order I use the names of these degrees of salvation. 

HYGIENE. 

There are three methods that may be employed in the healing of 
disease: Prayer, Hygiene, Medicine. The first of these I regard as 
being by far the most efficient; so much so that there is, in my opinion, 
little room for comparison. The other two follow in the order named, 
and the first or hygiene I regard as decidedly superior to medicine. 
The title of this book properly includes all three of these curative agents, 
so in giving my experience and opinions on h3^giene, I am not digress- 
ing from my subject. When properly used all three of them effect 
disease, and may be said, therefore, to be appointed by Jesus as heal- 
ing agents, and fall within the range of my book. But I strongly sus- 
pect that medicine has about finished its work, and will, before many 
years, be entirely rejected from the list of curative agents. Hygiene is 
to the body just what the moral law is to the soul, and is to be used 
more as a preventative than as a cure. It is the duty of all men to 
both pray and obey in order to secure either the prevention or cure of 
soul disease, and it is also their duty to both pray and obey the laws 
of health in order to secure either the prevention or cure of bodily dis- 
ease. I thought of omitting hygiene entirely for fear it might be said 
I healed all my diseases by means of it, which is positively and wholly 
false. If I remember correctly it was less than two years ago that I 
first subscribed for the Vanguard, published in St. Louis, and it was 
from the columns of this paper that I got my first systematic lessons 
on hygiene; and now it appears to me as a grand science, and ought to 
be taught in connection with prayer for bodily health, just as the moral 
law should be taught in connection with prayer for soul health. 

ORIGIN OF DISEASE. 

Before proceeding farther on the subject of preventing and curing 
disease, it should be known that I regard hell as the origin of every 
disease that assails the human race. Everything in existence, includ- 
ing all dead, living and active things have an internal, and an external, 
and this being the case, the internal cause of disease is hell, and the 
external is generally some violation of health laws. The craving ap- 
petite of the drunkard is internally from hell, and externally from the 
violation of temperance laws; and the indigestion of the glutton is in- 
ternally from hell, and externally from the violation of diet laws; and 
the same principle holds in every disease that assails the human race. 
It is the same way with sin, for every sin, without exception, has its 
internal and external. The internal cause of every sin is the tempta- 
tion of ludl. and the external is the violation of the moral law. These 
stat^Muents, then, should be remembered when reading what fv)llows 
a!)i)ut the oi-jgin of disease. 

DIET. 

Of all the external disease producing causes there are probably none 
more destructive of health than gluttony. Thousands, and even mil- 
lions, are murdered every year by the food they eat. Swedenborg, in 



86 

ref.;ring to the inhabitants of other earths frequently mentions their 
method of preparing food, which was simply for nourishment, and not 
to please the palate. On our earth, it is just the reverse, for we seek 
first and foremost to please the palate, and secondly to nourish the 
body. The appetite is like every other sensual principle of life, the 
more it is pampered the more it demands, and the more it is crucified 
and denied the less it demands, and if any man does not believe this to 
be true, a fair trial will prove it. From the Old Testament scriptures 
it is evident that the ancient Isrealites did not suffer with disease as 
we do, and while recently reading in the book of Ruth, I was struck 
with the simplicity of the diet used by Boaz and his reapers, which 
consisted of bread, parched corn and vinegar. The bread was proba- 
bly barley cakes, and was dipped in vinegar, which ser\ ed the pur- 
pose of broth. From personal experience I know the value of a cor- 
rect diet, and the stimulus thereby imparted to health. After I had 
suffered four years with dyspepsia, and was probably as near dead with 
it as a man could well be, I was then cured simply and solely by diet- 
iog. For several weeks I lived on old, dry, stale wheat bread pre- 
pared without salt, and when I began my stomach was so weak that I 
ate only a mouthfull at a time, repeating it every hour, and I believe 
that such treatment would cure any ordinary case of dyspepsia that was 
not caused by another disease. Many years ago I boarded with a 
doctor who was subject to malarial attacks, but in place of taking med- 
icine he would fast over two or three meals, and never failed to recover 
without medicine. I also knew a case in which a man cured himself 
of chills, by eating only one small biscuit at a meal. These things 
prove that if the appetite is subjected to hygiene regulations, it alone, 
will either prevent or cure a large number of our diseases. 

HYGIENE CURES. 

I once knew a man who took a singular way to cure himself of ma- 
laria, but it was said that he was always succi-ssfui. In the summer 
season when he felt symptoms of malaria, he would go into his room, 
build a large fire, wet a heavy woolen blanket, wrap up in it, and lie 
as near the heat as he could stand it. In this condition he would re- 
main an hour or two, and perspire freely, and it was said that th(; 
blanket would turn yellow with the stain of bile from his body, and 
that it never failed to cure him. I once knew a case in which a man 
attending a mill had been suffering a long time with chills. One day 
he accidently fell into the water wdiile he had a chill, and in place of it 
killing him, it cured him completely. Another case in which a boy 
had been suffering with chills, until another boy, who was bathing 
threw him into the river while a chill was on him, and it cured him. 
I have known many similar cases in which hygiene, or external reme- 
dies made cures that medicine could not effect, from all of which I am 
now convinced that hygiene antl external remedies are in their infancy 
and that the medical profession has concealed them from the'.peoph; 
for mone}^ making purposes. Probably three-fourths of the common 
people do not know the meaning of the word hj^giene. Until recently 
I never saw a book on hygiene advertised, and ninety-nine out of every 
hundred do not know that a book was ever written on the subject. Why 



hay tli(^ medical profeFsion thus kept the people in darkness, and sub- 
stituted an almost worthless system of physic? The evidence is plain, 
for with hy^triene hooks in their hands, the people could discard half 
the doctors, and do better without them than with them, for in the 
present stale of medical practice it is claimed that all serious diseases 
require the treatment of skilled ph^^sicians, and that it is dangerous to 
risk such cases without them. 

SCHOOL OF HYGIENE. 

Until recently I did not know there was such a thing on earth as a 
school of hygiene, or even a specially hygiene doctor. It was, there- 
fore, refreshing to learn that there was already an organized agency 
waiting to assist faHh healing in destroying the devil's kingdom of dis- 
ease. But unless great care is taken it will only change one money 
trap into another, for hygiene schools and doctors can install them- 
selves into the medical doctor's office, and carry on the old work of 
fleecing the people of their cash; and even in a hygiene paper that I 
recently received, I saw evidences of this work. The skeptic need not 
suppose that I hail the advent of hygiene schools, doctors and litera- 
ture because T doubt the efficiency of faith healing, for this is not the 
case, but it is the duty of man to practice hygiene by obeying the laws 
of health, just as it is the duty of the christian to obey the moral 
law, and this cannot be done until the laws of hygiene, or health are 
known. Hygiene is the divine law of the body, and the moral law is 
the divine law of the soul, and each is intended to yjromote the good or 
ha])r)iness of man, but obedience to both laws should be accompanied 
by daily prayer for divine help, and blessings. We should be ready to 
hail such schools, and such literature as would thoroughly educate the 
people on the preservation of health, and wrest them from the domin- 
ioi^ of such an abominable, blind, ignorant, extravagant use of medi- 
cine. Hygiene is one of the three methods divine providence has or- 
dained for the preservation of health, and cure of sickness, and in mv 
opinion, if it was properly understood and practiced, it alone, of itself, 
would be far more efficient in accomplishing these ends than medicine 
ever has been, or ever will be, on this earth. 

HYGIENE IMPERFECT. 

Hygiene cannot prevent all diseases, nor cure all diseases, nor be 
practiced at all times. Then if the people could be thoroug^hly educa- 
ted in the science, and every possible effort made to obey its laws, yet, 
in the present sinful state of man, there would ^'till be a large propor- 
tion of disease, for the more efficient agent of faith healing to prevent 
or cure Only a j^art of our many diseases are ju^oduced, externally b}^ 
the violation of health laws; sohy2:iene should be only a co-operative 
agent in preventin<z and curing diseases. Neither can its laws be 
practice(l at all times, for there are unhealthy occupations which, in 
the present state of society, somebody must follow. Then there are 
both accidental and necessary exposures which externally ]>roduce dis- 
ease, and continual changes of weather which no one can avoid, and 
which produces disease: allot which demonstrates the imperfection of 
hyiriene sci^mce, and c(^nvinces us of the Uccescitv (~)f a higher, and 
more p'^rfeet form of hepling, whicli can alwny- bv 'ound at a throne of 
grace. 



38 

MEDICINE. 

Two of tlie iicaiiug ugenty lor the vuro of disease have been treated, 
and it no\v remains to notice the third and last. It is a common argu- 
nient for those opposed to faith healing to assert, that Jesus has given 
medicine for the purpose of healing disease, and, therefore, it should be 
used; just as tliough there was no other power ordained to the work of 
fighting the fearful, premature, life destroying vulture, disease. For 
the sake of popular opinion, I will allow a little of that claim in this 
treatise-, yet I am a little skeptical on the subject, for there are only 
two universal agencies, prayer and obedience, employed by Jesus in 
the removal of soul disease, and, as a logical argument, the science of 
correspondence would admit but two in the cure of bodily disease, 
which would be prayer and obedience to the laws of health; so if a 
third divinely appointed agent for the healing of disease be allowed, 
there is no universal correspondent agent divinely employed in ths 
regeneration of the soul. It, therefore, remains to be tested whether or 
not medicine shall remain, or be completely, wholly and forever ban- 
ished from the catalogue of divinely appointed healing agencies. And 
whether prayer and hygiene are not all, and even more than all that 
man could want in the prevention and cure of diseases, in all their 
forms, and in all their stages of virulence. 

MEDICINE DANGEROUS. 

Notwithstanding all that can be said in favor of medicine, it can be 
proven from both reason and experience that it is not only dangerous 
when employed as a curative agent, but exceedingly dangerous; for its 
action on the system is nearly always violent. Doctors use purgatives 
in the treatment of most diseases. Take then, for example, a strong 
healthy man, in the vigor of life, and administer to him a thorough 
course of cathartics, just as the doctor does to the sick, and it will ren- 
der him too weak to perform labor, or at least heavy labor, and yet 
sick people, in the lowest stages of disease, are required to undergo 
such treatment. It is truthfully said by doctors that the tendency of 
all disease is to death, and when the action of medicine on the system 
is so violent as to seriously reduce the strength of a strong man, may it 
not also be truthfully said that the tendency of all, or nearly all medi- 
cine is to death. In infancy the life force is weak, admitting no diet 
stronger than milk, but as age increases life force also increases until 
it reaches its highest point in the vigor of middle life. It then de- 
clines until its stren'_>-th is little above that of the infant, and finally 
ends in death, and to these two stages of weak life force may be added 
all sick persons in the lower stages of disease. Asa matter of fact, it 
must be admitted, that many medicines taken into the stomach must 
undergo the same process of digestion that is given to food. Then 
when medicine must undergo diofestion before it can enter the system, 
and perform its work, and its action on the S3^stem is violent, and life 
force in its first, last and diseased stages is always weak, it then fol- 
lows, as an inevitable conclusion, that when medicine is administered 
in these three stages, its violent action, while life force is already barely 
able to progress, is not only dangerous, l)at exceedingly dangerous. 
It still follow ; a- a logical argument, t'l it if :n'' licine can be admitted 



39 

as a curative agent it should be used only in the first stages of disease, 
and only for those in the vigor of life; and, that it should never be 
given to infants, small children, sick people in the lower stages of 
disease, or to very old people. What can be more evident than the 
fict, that when the stomach is too weak to digest anything but the 
lightest diet, and it in small quantities, it is then unable to give 
healthy digestion to strong medicine? And what can be more evident 
than the fact, that when medicine does not undergo healthy digestion, 
it is poison to the system? Any man of reason might know that when 
life force is hardly able to assimilate small quantities of light diet, it is 
impossible for medicine to have either a healthy or neutral effect, and 
yet in the lowest stages of disease whnn life force and digestion have 
already all the burden they can bear, the dostor is expected to increase 
and multiply his lotions, and the most of them do it. 

MEDICINE KILLS. 

In 1877 I was called to sit by the bedside of a child, and witness 
the work of the monster death. Having also witnessed the course of 
treatment pursued by the doctor and parents, I was fully convinced 
at the time, and the following year still more confirmed in the belief 
by two additional examples, that medicine killed the child; and that it 
made quick work of the job. As near as memory will serve, I will 
give the circumstances and evidence in these three cases. The child 
had been suffering some time with diarrhoea, caused from cutting 
teeth. After it had been sick several weeks, and showed no signs of 
recovery the parents gave it a dose of calomel, which, in place of 
curing only prostrated it, and within one day rendered it unable to 
walk. The parents then became alarmed, and sent for a physician. 
He came, and left another supply of calomel to be used in the course 
of treatment. The parents administered one or two doses of the calo- 
mel which had such a bad effect that they stopped it. The doctor 
came again, and left more calomel in what he called broken doses. 
The parents again administered the calomel; but again became alarmed, 
and stopped it; but, it was too late, for the child soon died, and was 
consigned to the tomb, and by laying the cause of death on providence 
and the disease, the parents and everybody excused the doctor from 
having any part in it. It was probably less than a week after the first 
dose of calomel was given when the child died, and yet when the 
treatment commenced it was able to walk. The next year I sat by the 
be Isi le of a man, and again witnessed death caused by the violation 
of hygiene laws and the work of medicine combined. The disease was 
also diarahoea, and lasted about six weeks before it ended in death. 
Ni'^ht after night, and day after day I sat by the man's bedside and 
closely watched and scrutinized the effect of every dose of medicine 
given, and with but slio^ht exceptions every particle of it only aggra- 
vated the disease, and liastened death. I could have easily cured him 
by stopping the medicine, and the excessive drinking of water, but my 
counsel had no more influence in the presence of the doctors orders 
than th'^ cackling of chickens in the yard. There were four doctors 
emploved in this case, and ench (^fthe last ih-oo (>hnnged the treat- 
ment of the others; and one of them iaufrhea and ridiculed the course 



40 

of treatment ol' those who preceded him, but (hd no better himself; and 
if tliey did not evidence the presence of trii ess work, then I was not 
able to judge. Tlie next case was a child, and it was in the same year 
that the precedino; case occurred, I do not remember the disease, and 
was not present until a few days before the child died, but made close 
inquiry about the course of treatment, and the medicine that had been 
administered. Rut one doctor had been employed, and he had been 
making daily visits for about two months, and a few days before the 
child died, on inquiry the father replied that he had given quinme 
every day for about forty days, and it had been almost the only medi- 
cine used. T was surprised that one medicine should be used for forty 
days without change, and the child getting worse every day, but the 
fat>her replied that the doctor did not know anything else that would 
do so well as quinine. As soon as he told me that, T was satisfied that 
quinine had slowly and steadily destroyed a life that would probably 
have thrown off the disease without medicine, for its long continuance 
under one single prescription was evidence that it was nearly able to 
do so; and })robably would have done so, but for tVie daily burden of 
violent medicine. To all of this may be added, that I once heard a 
mother say who had buried a number of infants, that if she had her 
life to live over again, she would never employ the services of a doctor 
for a sick infant. These observations assist in proving, be^^ond a 
doubt, the theories of the preceding paragraphs. "'That the use of med- 
icine for tlie cure of disease is violent and dangerous, and that it should 
never be employed except on vigorous constitutions, and by them only 
in the first stages of disease." 

MEDICINE UNCERTAIN. 

Experience has long since proven to me that the effect medicine 
will have in a given case will be different at different times, even on 
the same individual; and that the variations of its effects on various 
persons will be still greater. The same food will sometimes have va- 
rious effects on different yjersons,^which may be proven by asking a 
number of men who are predisposed to d3^spepsia which variety of 
food is the most difficult of digestion with them, and it will be found 
that all, or the most of them will name different varieties of food, and 
out of a half dozen ol partial dyspepti(^s one can eat with impunity 
what another cannot touch. This is proven to be true also in medical 
practice when doctors change their medicine so often while treating the 
same patient; and that this change will be made when one doctor is 
discharged and another employed is as certain as any ordinary thing 
can well be; and if the same doctor remains a supply of new medicine 
will be frequently introduced as long as the patient fails to show signs 
of improvement. All of this shows conclusively that a doctor does 
not always know the effect a medicine will have, and that he must 
continue experimenting and searching for the most efficient one, and 
that this must be done, especially in the lower stages of disease, when 
life already has a heavy burden to carry. To prove that medical prac- 
tice is a system of guess w^ork, let a sick mnn call on a half dozen doc- 
tors in a day, and get written prescriptions from each one, and then 
compare them together, and the probabilities are that no two of them 



41 

will agree. This plan has been tried and proven a number of times in 
our large cities, and the results published in the daily papers. Of 
all the things on earth, outside of religion, the curative agents for dis- 
ease ought to be the most certain, for human life , is at stake, and un- 
certainties ought not to be tolerated. In the Bible sickness is every- 
where treated as an evil, and the idea that medicine with all its uncer- 
tainty and danger is the only divinely appointed agent for the cure of 
such a great evil as disease, is wild nonsense; for providence does not 
deal with suft'ering humanity in such a reckless way as to leave them 
at the mercy of only one curative agent, as uncertain in its effects as the 
world of chance. It is true that the world now has practically only 
one, and that one medicine, but it has been the inordinate love of 
money, and desire to live high without labor that has led to the exclu- 
sion of hygiene, and external remedies, and the wickedness of the 
world that has led to the exclusion of faith healing; which is as far su- 
perior to the curative power of medicine as the light of the sun is supe- 
rior to the light of a star. 

MEDICINE DECEIVES. 

That medicine will cure some diseases in their first stages there is 
no doubt. This is one of the first and foremost causes of its almost 
universal use; for people knowing that it will cure some diseases natu- 
rally fall into the delusion that it will have an efficacious effect in all 
diseases, and, that when the patient dies there was some other cause 
that succeeded in overcoming the healing virtues of the drug. Thus, 
after a faithful use of medicine, whether the patient dies or recovers, 
no fault can be charged to the account of medicine, and yet the proba- 
bilities are that nine-tenths ot the ca es in which doctors are employed 
would recover equally as fast without a drop of medicine. People do 
not seem to know, understand, or have any perception that all forms of 
life carry healing power in their own organisms. Take a knife and cut 
a finger until the blood fl(^ws freely, and life will immediately com 
mence the work of healing without any medicine, audit is equally true 
with every disease that assails the life of an animal or plant; and yet 
people h.ive been drugged so much that in nearly all diseases where 
medicine is used they attribute this natural healing force of life to medi- 
cine, when in nine cases out often life would have cured the disease 
alone; and equally as well without medicine as with, it. It is wonder- 
ful how blind people have become to this natural healing power of life, 
for they cannot see it with the nal:ed eye as they can in external 
wounds and sores. They have become so infatuated with the supposed 
healing efficiency of medicine that the}^ seem to think that it is impossi- 
ble for any man to recover from serious sickness without medicine; and 
when niiulicine is used, and the patient does recover, medicine did all 
the healing, in every case, and gets the sole and entire credit of the 
cure; and even intelligent men are carried away with this popular de- 
lusion. This deceit of medicine has become so great that if starch pills 
and colored rainwater were entirely substituted for m^^dicine the delu- 
sion would not be much greater than we now find it; and cunning 
quacks have Ijeen frequently discovered in the practice of such shams; 
and they were as popular in their practice as the medical doctor is in his. 



42 

CAUSES OF MEDICAL DELUSIONS. 

One of the first causes of deception is the doctors' ability to classif}^ 
diseases, and designate them by names, and then to tell their symp- 
toms. Great credit is certainly due the profession in this branch of its 
work, and probabh^ to it more than to anything else can be attributed 
the amazing power of the doctors over the masses. The people take 
this skillful designation of diseases, and their symptoms as an un- 
doubted evidence that the doctor can employ an equal amount of scien- 
tific skill in the treatment of the sick, and with the advancement of dis- 
(-ase into its lower stages where medicine becomes poison in place of a 
healinij agent, the doctor and his drugs are regarded with almost super- 
stitious reverence. At this stage the abandonment of the doctor and 
his drugs, which should always be done, would be treated as a lunatic's 
dream. Another cause of medical delusion is the time and expense 
required to get a medical education. This indispensable prerequisite 
to admission into the ranks of medicine vendors carries with it the 
prestige of skillful education for the work of healing disease, and is 
naturally placed side by side with all other branches of education and 
science. The doctor is regarded as a man who has spent years of time, 
and large sums of money to gain the healing art, and, therefore, if there 
was any great deception in the great science of medicine, he would be 
nhlu t()dete(*t, and expose it. To this power of prel^tige must be added 
that the docttor is not only regarded as a scientific man, but he dresses 
well, moves in the highest circles of society, and charges high for his 
services. For many years all these influences have been eft'ectuaily 
increasing, and have driven from the field, not only grandma and her 
tea, but has excluded the far more effectual curative a^ent of hygiene, 
and everything else that dares to rival the doctor, and his drugs. 

INCURABLE CASES. 

'•And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had 
spent all her living upon physicans, neither could be healed of any 
came behind him, and touched the border of his garment; and immedi- 
ately her issue of blood stanched."— Luke, viii. 43, How many mil- 
lions have we of the same kind? Our graveyards, and army of living 
wrecks attest the frailty of medical practice; and how many millions 
are there who have spent, and are still spending all their living on 
physicians? and like the woman in the gospel cannot be healed of any. 
Experience and observation tea(!li the doctor that there are many cases 
corning under his practice that medicine can neither cure nor benefit, 
and in place of confessing it in such cases, and saving the patient from 
the expense of treatment, only a few of them do it; but a large majority 
of them go on. and on drugging hopeless cases, and bankrupting their 
subjects. This may be hard languag(\ but it is true, and every man of 
common sense can see that it is true. Let anyone circidate a little 
among those having old chronic diseases, and learn what they have 
spent on doctors and medicine without receiving even a shadow of re- 
lief, and yet, with many doctors, such cases are a leading source of 
their revenues: for many of them will often administer medicine that 
they know will impart no more curative force to the patient than starch 
pills or rainwater, and charge just as much for it as they would if the 



43 

disease was removed effectually. With the medical profession chronic 
diseases are well nigh an impregnable fortress, and they know it, and 
as honest men they ouo^ht to adndt it. 

MEDICAL PRESTIGE INCREASING. 

When people recover from sickness, they invariably attibute the 
recovery to tne doctor's medicine used, and when a physician is act- 
ively employed the removal of the disease is attributed to him, and he 
receives the honor of a skillful use of an efficient curative agent; but 
when he dies people excuse both the doctor and medicine, and attribute 
the cause of death to tbe divine will, to which they will bow with hum- 
ble resignation. It make3 no difference how much of the recovery is 
due to careful nursing, hygiene dieting, or the natural healing power of 
life, the doctor, and his medicine pocket all the credit of curing the pa- 
tient, and goes forth armed with the authority to return again when- 
ever pains announce the approach of a trifling ill. The confidence of 
people in doctors and medicine has gone on and on, and their blind 
homage to public sentiment has increased within recent years far be- 
yond the bounds of all reason; for I can scarcely find words to express 
the abominable force of this blind attachment to so much delusion. 
There is probably no other branch of human affairs that has grown and 
expanded within the last hundred years faster than the influence of the 
doctor and his medicine over the public mind; for the medical profes- 
sion claims that the science and art of medical education and practice 
have kept pace with all other forms of enlightened civilization; and 
that there is a corresponding increase in the skillof handling medicine, 
and curing disease, and the public mind bows to this demand, and con- 
cedes these claims. When I was a boy, it was the custom of my pa- 
rents, and the general rule among farmers to employ careful nursing, 
supplemented by grandma and her tea until the patient either recov- 
ered, or began to reach the danger line; and not until this line was 
reached were the services of a doctor deemed neccessar}^; and in those 
days the healing teas which rarely did either good or harm warded off 
the heavy expense of treatment by a doctor. But all this is now 
changed, fur people run for the doctor when attacked by a slight- ill, 
and if one fails to do this, and the patient happens to die the doctor, 
and all the neighbors unite in declaring that the cause of death was the 
criminal neglect of the parents to call a physician at the proper time. 
I have seen this farce acted to perfection within the last few 3^ears, and 
innocent parents loaded with the charge of having caused the death of 
their own child when they only pursued a course as safe as doctors fur- 
nish. The confidence of people in medicine has gone on increasing 
until thousands of them make almost a daily use of it, and burden the 
stomach with it almost as regularly as they eat bread, and drink water, 
for the shelves and mantle boards in farm houses are now crowded with 
empty bottles and phials, as if they were doctors' offices. 

MEDICINE EXPENSIVE. 

Doctors, like other professionals, are not content with a plain man- 
ner of life. They want to move in the highest circles of societ}^, and as- 
sociate with the wealthy classes, and they make their charges accord- 
ingly; and they are not only extortionate, but far beyond the bounds of 



44 

reasonable justice. To their extortionate charges must be added the 
number of them, which is already superabundant, and seems- to be 
continualh' on the increase, which is thereby overstocking the demand 
to such an extent that they live in semi-idleness. To this heavy bill 
of (iharges must be added the vast amount of patent medicine now 
manufactured; for the production and advertisement of patent medicine 
has gone to such an extent that it is already calling forth the condem- 
nation of a large portion of society. It has really ^one to such an ex- 
tent as to be disgusting in the utmost extreme, and in place of 
abating or calling a halt, it is gathering increased force every year. 
The columns of newspapers are crowded with their advertisements and 
every other plan that could be invented or thought of is employed as 
an advertising medium. Even the fences, gates and bars of farms, and 
nil the bridges over little creeks are stuck full of their advertisements 
in large letters, while the government mail service is over burdened 
with patent medicine circulars, and loudly calls for some measures of 
relief. For many years past I have been receiving, personally, 
lar^e numbers of their circulars, and yet I never gave my name or ad- 
dress to any of them, and how they obtained it I do not know. Then 
again, it is a well known fact in mercantile circles that the retail drug- 
gist makes a much larger profit on his goods than is made in any other 
(le])artment of trade. The cost of all this business must be borne by 
the jjublic, audit is a heavy burden, and it demonstrates conclusively 
that the' medical profession is living much higher than it should, and 
giving little or no compensation in return. 

THE AVERAGE OF LIFE. 

AV^hy it is that a people calling themselves civilized and intelligent 
could be brought to submit to such a delusion as medicine has forced 
u])on them is one of the mysteries of this wicked eai'th. The average 
duration of life is said to b(^ 88 years, while the average duration of 
lite among those who die with old age is probably near if not above 80. 
Placing it at 80, the human race is robbed of 42 years out of 80, caused 
solely by disease. Why is it that an intelligent public does not call on 
the doctor to explain this mystery? And to show wherein his skill lies? 
It is said that only one of a thousand dies with old age, while 999 out 
of a thousand die with disease. This is logic that all the claims, that 
all the doctors ever have mad(% or ever will make cannot answer. The 
sole and only proof that medical i)ractice is worth anything is for them 
to raise th(^ duration of life above 38 yeai-s, and this they have not 
done, and can never do while medical practice remains in its present 
stage. I have seen it stated a few times in public print that the lon- 
gevity of man was increasing, but fail- statistics do not prove it, for they 
and the increase of population, demonstrate conclusively that such 
statements are only the bare assertions of false statistics or interested 
parties. The rapid increase in population in this country now, and in 
Europe for the last three hundred years proves nothing in favor of the 
doctor, for it only demonstrates an increase in the birth rate. A rise 
in the duration of life which still stands at 88 years, is the only thing 
that can hel]) the doctor, audit must be proven by reliable statistics, 
and not by assertion. If the present claims of the medical profession 



45 

were true, the average duration of life would be. at the present time, 
not less than 60 years, whereas it still remains stationary at 38, and 
with the exception of war effects, it was probably as high all through 
the dark ages, and it is probably as high at the present time in heathen, 
or even barbarian countries. The average duration of life being 38 
years is nearly as low as it can go without annihilating thehumaix race, 
for only reduce it 3 or 4 years, placing it at about 35 years, and with- 
out an increase of births, the population of the world would begin at 
once to decline, and continue declining until the human race would be- 
come extinct. But only retain the present birth rate, and destroy dis- 
ease, admitting death only by old age, and the population of the earth 
would double as fast our great cities are doing it. In this case, to the 
vast increase in population arising from the addition of those now dy- 
ing in early life, would be added the additional births from this source, 
which would soon double, treble and quadruple the present popula- 
tion of our earth. Many people think that we now have more people 
on earth than is good for the happiness of man, but providence demon- 
strates otherwise, and when there are enough of people on earth provi- 
dence will stop the increase. If medical science and art are so well 
developed in our day, and heathen lands are ignorant of this great art 
and science, why is it that heathen lands do not decline in population? 
Why is it that China has her four hundred millions? India her two 
hundred millions? and barbarian Africa her two hundred millions? 
That they grew up amidst ignorance we all know, and that the average 
duration of human life amongst them was in the past, and is at the 
present as high as ours reason teaches, and assertion cannot disprove. 
The result of all this proves conclusively that the heathen always have 
been, and are still as healthy without our skilled medical profession as 
we are, and comparatively free from the fearful tax we have to pay for 
the doctor, and his drugs. It should be remembered that it is only 
medical practice that I am opposing; for some of the sciences I admire, 
but utterly repudiate the practice in its present state of development. 

SURGERY. 

Against that branch of medical science called surgery I have noth- 
ing to say Neither faith healing or hygiene can take its place, for it 
is not a healing art. If a m'^n should stick a thorn in his flesh it should 
be extracted; and if he should get a bone broken, or a joint out of 
place, or an artery cut he should employ the services of a surgeon; be- 
cause extracting thorns, setting bones and tieing arteries are mechanic- 
al operations, and not healing, and we have no reason to believe that 
faith healing, hygiene, or medicine can do such work. However, after 
the surgeon has finished his mechanical work, it would then be ad- 
missible to employ healing agents. But such cases will ahvays be few. 
and foi-m only a small factor in human affairs. 

DEATH OF INFANTS. 

It is said that one-third of our race die in infancy, and some esti- 
mates have placed it at half. If I remember correctly Swedenborg 
tells us that two-thirds of heaven is composed of those who die in in- 
fancy. At any rate, Christianity teaches that all infants are saved, 
and if this be true, probably the medical profession has not done any 



46 

srreat injury after all, for with the world aw wicked as it now is, but 
few adults are saved; so if a doctor has killed any infants, he has 
probably saved them from a life of sin, and an eternity in hell. And 
T believe ihat if people will not live religiously, the sooner they leave 
earth the bettei it will be for them, for the longer they remain, the 
deeper they will sink into sin, and, as a result, sink deeper into hell 
after death. If these things be true, the average duration of life re- 
maining at 38 years is to be desired as long as people remain as w-icked 
as they are at this time; but let m.-ui become religious, and an increase 
in the duraton of life will be a blessing. 

DOCTORS HAVE COMPANY. 

I am not read}' to set doctors down as the worst men on earth, for 
if it be true, that they have foisted a worthless system of medical 
practice on the world, they have a majority of the woidd for their com- 
panions; for deceit, fraud and swindling now reigns in almost every 
department of human life, and it would be unreasonable to sup- 
pose that the medical profession was the only exception. If religion 
could furnish a Mahomet, and a Joe Smith; and cliristianity a pope, 
and a hundred smaller isms nearly as bad, surely we should be willing 
to draw the veil of charity over the faults of medical doctors; and es- 
pecially when they enter it while young, at heavy expense, and in 
total ignorance of its weakness. 

OPINIONS OF OTHERS. 

A few months ago I received a circular from a hygiene doctor in 
New York City, and below give extracts from it I do not warrant it 
to be true, but believing it to be so I copy it. The doctor's name and 
address could be given, but I am not at liberty to use them, and, there- 
fore, omit them. 

*'A NEW^ METHOD OF REGAINING HEALTH, AND ERADICATING ALL 
DISEASES, WITHOUT THE USE OF DRUGS OR POISON." 

"Probably the greatest delusion that the human race has ever la- 
bored under is that of swallowing all sorts of abominable drugs and 
poisons with a view to regaining health, and overcoming disease. 
Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are murdered 
every year by doctors, drugs, and patent medicines." "This method 
is applicable to the cure of all diseases to which the human system is 
liable, as well as to all forms of debility and exhaustion, impotency, 
etc." "It is not necessary for me to give a ^ull list of all diseases 
here; suflice it to say that there are about 1540 different diseases class- 
ified by the college of physicians ond surgeons." 

"I give below the opinions of a few^ out of hundreds of eminent phy- 
sicians who have had the courage to speak their minds on this subject." 

Dr. Mason Good, M. D., Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, 
England, says: "The socalled science of medicine is a barbarous 
jargon; and drugs have; killed more human beings than all the wars, 
famines and pestilence that the world has ever seen." 

"Sir Edward Johnson, M. D., Physician to Her Majesty the Queen 
of England, and foi- forty years editor of the Medical Gazette, says: 
"It is my opinion that if there were not a single doctor, surgeon, 
druggist, apothecary or drug on the face of the earth, there would be 
less sickness, and less mortnlity than now prevails." 

Dr. Oliver \Vendell HoIuk's. Professor of medicine in Harvard 



47 

College, Boston, said in a recent lecture: "The disgrace of medicine 
has been that colossal system of self-deception, in obedience to which 
mines have been emptied of their cankering minerals, the entrails of 
animals taxed for their impurities, the poison bags of reptiles drained 
of their venom, and all the conceivable abomination thus obtained 
thrust down the throat of human }»eings suffering from some fault of 
organization, nourishment, or vital stimulation." 

Prof. Chas. D. Meigs, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, 
says: "All our cogitations respecting the modus operandi of medicine 
are purely empirical." 

Prof.Clark, N. Y., says: ''All our curative agents are poison, and, 
as a consequence, every dose diminishes the patient's vitality." 

Prof. S. M. Goss, of the medical college, Louisville, Ky., says: 
"Of the essence of disease ver}^ little is known. Indeed, nothing at 
all." 

Dr. Bailie, of England, says: "I have no faith whatever in medi- 
cine." 

Prof. Parker, of New York, says: "Hygiene is of more value in 
the treatment of disease than drugs." 

"Dr. Marshall Hall, F. R. S., says: "Thousands are annually 
slaughtered in the quiet sick room." 

Prof. Davis, says; "The vital effects of medicine are very little 
understood. It is a term used to cover ignorance." 

Bostwick History of Medicine, says: " Every dose of medicine is a 
blind experiment on the vitality of the patient." 

"Dr. Benj. Rush, University of Pennsylvania, says: "I am inces- 
cessantly led to make apology for the instability of the theories and 
practice of medicine. Dissections daily convince us of our ignorance 
of disease, and cause us to blush at our prescriptions. What mischief 
have we not done under the belief of false facts and false theories? 
We have assisted in multiplying diseases, we have done more, we have 
increased their fatality." 

Prof. Henle, the great German pathologist and teacher, says: 
"Medical science, at all times, has been a medley of empirically ac- 
quired facts, and theoretical observations, and so it is likely to remain." 

Dr. Abercomble, Fellow of the Royal Colh^ge of Physicians of Ed- 
ingburg, says: "Medicine has been called by Philosophers the art of con- 
jecturing, the science of guessing." 

Sir John Forbes, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Lon- 
don, and physician to the Queen's household, says: "No systematic 
or theoretical classification of diseases, or therayjeutic agents ever yet 
promulgated is true, or anything like truth, and none can be adopted 
as a safe guidance in practice." 

Prof. H. C. Wood, our distinguished American writer, asks: 
"What has clinical therapeutics established permanently and indis- 
putably? Scarcely anything." 

Prof. Gregory, of the Edingburg Medical College to his medical 
class, said: "Gentlemen, ninety-nine out of every one hundred med- 
ical facts are medical lies, and medical doctrines are for the most part, 
stark, staring nonsense." 

Prof. Meagende, the great Parisian physicia)!. is reported to have 
addressed the students of his class in the Allopathic college in that 



48 

citj" in the following lanojuage: ''G(^ntlemen, medicine is a great hum- 
bug. I know it is called a science — science indeed! It is nothing like 
science! Doctors are mere empirics when they are not charletans. 
We are as ignorant as men can well be. Who knows anything about 
medicine? Gentlemen, you have done me the honor to come here to 
attend my lectures, and I must tell you frankly now in the beginning, 
that I know nothing in the world about medicine, and I don't know 
anybody who does know anything about it." 

Dr. R. C Flower, the phenomenal Bostonian and physician, says: 
•'Medicine is not a science. The best that can be said about medicine 
is that it is a system of experiments — no doctor of any standing will 
say it is a science. The best brains of the Allopathic school declare 
that medicine is only an experiment." 

BicUat, the great French pathologist, says: "Medicine is an inco- 
herent asisemblage of incoherent ideas, and is, perhaps of all the phys- 
iological sciences, that which shows best the caprice af the human 
mind. It is a shai)eless assemblage of inaccurate ideas; of observa- 
tions often puerile, and of formulae as fantastically conceived as they 
are tediously arranged." 

Dr. Ramage, F. R. C. S., London, says: "It cannot be denied that 
the present system of medicine is a burning reproach to its professors — 
if, indeed a series of vague and uncertain incongruities deserve to be 
called by that name. How rarely do our medicines do good! How 
otten do they really make our patients worse! I fearlessly assert that 
in most cases the sufferer would be safer without a physician than with 
one. I have seen enough of the mal-practice of my professional 
brethren to warrant the strong language I employ." 

COMPARISON OF THE HEALING AGENTS. 

We now have before us the only three general healing agents 
known to man; prayer, hygiene and medicine. A short comparison of 
the relative value of each might, therefore, be profitable. Faith heal- 
ing, I regard, as being by far the most useful because; 1. It is not 
dangerous, so if it does no good it cannot do any harm. This would 
generally be the case with hygiene, but not always so, for it might 
sometimes injure when it was intended to benefit; and with medicine it 
would be scarcely ever so. 2. It would require but little skill, for 
any one who could pray could heal, and this would include both the 
ignorant and the wise. Hj^giene would require considerable educa- 
tion in its use, while medicine would require both skill and caution. 
3. I believe that either gradual or instantaneous divine healing, if 
properly sought, would remove the worst diseases that now assail the 
human race, efficiently, and never fail, which would not be the case 
with either of the other forms. 4. . Faith healing ccnild cure at a dis- 
tance, while neither of the others could. 5. Faith healing would be 
inexpensive which would not always be the (vase with hygiene, and 
rarely tlie case with medicine. 6. Faith healing could lay its heav- 
enly touch on the smallest infant, or the weakest patient, which 
neither of the others could do. 7. Faith healing would lead the soul 
into deeper communion with Jesus, which neither of the others would 
do. I. th(M-efore. believe, that faith healing is destined to become 



49 

almost the only healing agent in all diseases, and hygiene be only the 
law which providence binds on all men in both sickness and health. 
The natural healing power of life force has been omitted because it is 
not dependent on any voluntary effort of man. , 

FAITH HEALING SCIENTIFIC. 

All the dealings of Jesus with finite beings and things are according 
to law and order, and these laws or rules are what is called science. 
Not only religion then, but religion in all its greater and smaller forms 
is according to law and order, and, therefore, the rules, or manner of 
divine healing, which I have been trying to present, are as much 
under the sun of science as natural philosophy, astronomy, or the 
other secular sciences. And not only so, but I accept, endorse and 
teach the new church system of theology which Jesus gave to a be- 
nighted world, and which is equally as scientific as the natural sci- 
ences, and which has demonstrated the holy scriptures to be, preemi- 
nently, scientific. It was not long after T began practicing on faith 
healing before it was discovered, that medical science was not the onh^ 
science within the department of healing, but that faith healing was 
equally a scientific branch of the healing art; and that, not only the 
whole of it, but each constituent part of it was according to law and 
order. For centuries man has gone on, and on adding to the list of 
discoveries, and everyone has opened up a new science, and demon- 
strated that Jesus has left nothing to chance, and that he does not op 
erate this great earth by arbitrary authority; but that everj^thing from 
a tallow candle to the sun in the heavens, and from the falling of a 
little drop of rain to the flow ol the tides, and from the swinging of 
a little pendulum to the revolutions of the planets are all according to 
law and order. 

OLD AGE. 

Another result of my experience was that I was soon convinced 
that old age is the only divinely appointed agent of death. Among 
my first impressions on this subject, in 1882, was the fact that within 
the vast domain of the vegetable kingdom this rule is universal, and 
all other forms of dissolution accidental, unnatural, and foreign; and 
were it not tor the consequences of sin it would be equally true in the 
animal kingdom, of which man constitutes a part. There are excep- 
tions, but ev^ry rational person knows that the order of fruit on the 
tree, of grain in the field, and of the leaves of the forest is to first ma- 
ture, get ripe, and then surrender life, and that to die sooner is the 
exception and not the rulefc A worm may gnaw them, blight destroy 
them, or frost kill them, but these are exceptions, and exceptions 
should not be converted into rules. If space permitted many pages 
might be filled with such examples, but these will suffice to show that 
old age is the only divinely appointed agent of death within the vast 
vegetable :kingdom. 

CREATION IN A CIRCLE. 

The next reason that I give for believing that old age is the only 
divinely appointed agent of death is, that everything Jesus has created 
to live or move travels in a^circuit. The planets travel in regular revo- 
lutions around the sim, and with only slight variation j occurring at 



50 

regular intervals ages apart, but still regular. And by regular revolu- 
tions we have spring, summer, autumn and winter. The earth re- 
volves regularly giving us morning, noon, evening and night. The 
moon travels through its circuit giving us new moon, first and second 
quarter and then full moon^ The tides of the ocean ebb and flow reg- 
ularh^, while the current flows round and round in a circuit. Vapor 
ascends by evaporation to the clouds, produces rain which returns 
again to the oceans from whence it came. The blood leaves the heart, 
circulates through the body, and returns again to the heart. Seed 
dropped into the ground germinates, produces a ydant which produces 
again new seeds, and then dies with old age. This much is New 
church theology, and is taken from the writings of Swedenborg; but it 
is evident from both scripture and reason that this form of revolution 
is applicable to all forms of life, and that the age of man is not an ex- 
ception. Man then should pass through the revoluticm with reg- 
ularity like everything else, giving him childhood, youth, middle age, 
old age, and eternal youth again in heaven; and when he fails to do it 
divine order is violated. These things being true, death by disease is , 
a violation of the divine order of life and motion, just as frost, or freez- 
ing weather in the summer would be a violation of our annual seasons 
of fruit time and harvest. Disease then is as much out of place in the 
prime of li+e as freezing weather would be in the middle of summer, or 
darkness at noonday. 

OBJECTS or man's creation. 
Tho next reason is, that there are two objects for which life was 
given: The producton of offspring and the regeneration and develop- 
ment of the soul. The first of these is positively violated by ^ early, 
premature death, and the other is violated, at least, in part. The first 
then of these two oi^jects, that may be noticed is the production, and 
training of offspring. The human female ceases to bear at about 42 
years of age, giving her sufficient time to care for her offspring until 
they are able to care for themselves. Ceasing to bear at 42 years .can- 
not possibly arise from physical weakness, for the human female is 
then in her prime, and does not feel the infirmities of age for many 
years later in life. The infirmities of age increase rapidly after 60, 
but the oldest child of the mother is then able to care for itself, and 
b^ave her to spend the infirmities of age free from the care of her chil- 
dren. She would have a fearful conflict if she should continue child- 
bearing into old age, like the animal or vegetable mother, and then die 
and leave her children under the care of strangers. If she cared for 
the spiritual welfare of her children, infants in old age would rob her 
of her spiritual joys, and in many cases lead her to wholly or partially 
stray from religion. But in the present order of providence this is im- 
possible; so she has nothing to do with raising or training her chil- 
dren in old age: but after infirmities begin, she can tranquilly surrender 
her life to him who gave it,, and peacefully enter into her rewards. 
This being the case it proves, conclusively, that providence never in- 
tended the separation of the mother and her babes, and the power that 
dares to do it is an enemy, and an intruder into the circle of divine or- 
der. Rut it is different with thc^ animal and v(>g(>table mothers, for 



51 

their offspring have no soul to save, and rapidly assume the po\Yei' of 
self support; so these mothers ccTntinue to bear in old age, and even until 
death by old age. The next object of life is that it requires all of life, 
from infancy to old age to thoroughly regenerate the soul, and confirm 
it in holiness. This is also new church theology, and is thoroughly 
treated b}^ Swedenborg, for all the separate stages of development that 
take place in the soul of man, from youth to old age are abundantly 
explained. 

LIFE SUBMITS TO AGE. 

Life never resists age, but fights with all its powers against disease. 
Cut the flesh of man, and life immediately begins the work of healing. 
Let a swelling or an external sore c.ome on the body, and life immedi- 
ately begins a battle with the intruder, and never ceases the conflict 
until the foreign enemy is either banished or comes out victorious in 
the fight, for between life and disease there is no peace until one or the 
other dies. As it is with external wounds and sores, so it is with dis- 
ease in all its internal forms; for life either casts them out of its house, 
or battles with them as long as it has power to fight. But it is other- 
wise with old age, for life submits to age, and is nc^t disturbed with a 
murmur, or a Avave on the sea of peace. Life and age act as friends, 
for between them there is no battle, no conflict, and no struggle for su- 
premacy; but life quietly lays her armor down at the feet of her mas- 
ter, and peacefully submits to the quenching of the fire within. No 
sane man ever tries to cure old age with medicine as he does disease. 
No one employs hygiene, prayer, or medicine, or seeks health resorts 
to regain youth, but there is a spontaneous, universal, quiet submis- 
sion to the march of time, and to the inroads of age into the vital forces 
of life. While disease produces pain, and sometimes fearful ones, it is 
all absent in the increase of age; and although age, like disease, saps the 
fountain of life, j^et it is done so quietly that the sense of touch is not 
even disturbed. Disease, generally, not only assails the forces of life, 
but the system of nerve sensation, carrying pain, misery and suffering 
with it wherever it goes. Death by old age gives w^arning. The gray 
head, dim eye, wrinkled brow, feeble step, tottering walk and bent 
form all unite in giving the warning: "Prepare to meet thy God." 
But disease is deceitful and sneaking. It comes on us in the dark, 
stabs us in the back, and without notice; tears the child from the 
mother and the mother from the child, the husband from the young 
wife, and the wife from the husband, leaves the wife alone with her 
family of little children, acts the robber a,nd the thief, and leaves every 
mark and image of the devil who sends it I am also satisfied that 
w^hen death is exclusively from old age it is painless, for the ripe fruit 
gently loosens its hold on the twig, and falls to the ii'round, but green, 
immature fruit requires force to pluck it; while the ripe grain also gives 
up life, and gently bows its head to the earth. 

THE BIBLE, 

The Holy Scriptures abundantly sustain the claims of this book; 
that disease comes, internally, from hell, that it may be cured by the 
praver of faith, and that old age is the onl^'- divinely appointed agent 
of death. But before proceeding to investigate these subjects it will be 



52 

necessary togi\'e the new church methods of interpreting the Scripture. 
The new church accepts the writings of Emanuel Swedenhorg as a spe- 
cial revelation from Jesus; not as Scripture, hut as an interpretation of 
Scripture; and in this revelation to Emanuel Swedenborg was given the 
spiritual sense of the Holy Scriptures; and finally, that this special rev- 
elation of the spiritual sense, which every verse of Scripture contains, 
was (jiven for the enlightenment of the new church, or the millennium 
nge tliat is now coming upon the earth. This being the case, the new 
church now has the Scriptures in both their spiritural and natural 
meaning; while the old church has only the natural sense, and still 
wickedly rejects the spiritural sense. This being the case, the inter- 
pretation of Scripture by the new church having the light of the spir- 
itual sense differs widely w^ith the interpretation of the old church 
having only the natural sense. It is necessary to make these expla- 
nations ifi order to show the proper meaning of some Scriptures I wish 
to use in proving some theories. Then, with the light of the spiritual 
sense of Scripture, the new church teaches that Jesus is never angry 
witii anyone, either in this life or in the life to come; that heaven is 
th(5 chosen home of all who go there, and hell is the chosen home of 
all who go there; that Jesus acts with all men before and after death, 
just as the natural sun acts with all things on the natural earth. It 
irives its light and heat as freely to the thorn as to the fig, and as freely 
to the staixnant pool as the girgling spring, or running brook; but the 
stagnant pool and thorn convert pure heat and light into what is evil 
and loathsome, while the running brook and fig convert pure light and 
heat into useful good. Then the cause of evil and filth in one set of 
the above objects is not from the sun, but in the objects themselves. 
It is likewise with wicked men, for they change the influx of goodness 
and ti-uth coming from Jesus into the opposite, and thus produce their 
own miseries and punishments. Then, wherever in the Bible it speaks 
of Jesus being angry with man it is only an appearance, for the truth is 
that man is angry with Jesus; and wherever it speaks of Jesus sending 
war, famine, pestilence and sickness on man, the truth is that man 
brings them on himself by doing the will of the devil. In like manner 
it appears to man that the sun rises and sets, but the truth is that the 
sun stands still, and the earth moves. Then, when the Bible says that 
Jesus sends sickness on man, it is w^hat is called an appearance of 
truth, for the devil sends it, because he is able to do so whenever man 
sins, and turns his back on Jesus. 

BIBLE SUPREMACY. 

In all the affairs with which I deal under the sun, the Bible; the 
holy word of Jesus; the only infallible authority on the earth, is my 
support, my strength, my stay and staff In the doctrine of faith 
healing I am npt left alone, for this guide through the pathway'of life, 
this infinite, mighty, omnipotent bulwark of truth gives me all the sup- 
port, light and truth that I could reasonably ask or desire on the sub- 
ject. Why it was not sooner discovered is one of the mysteries of hu- 
man nature, only surpassed by many others far greater, and more im- 
})ortant, found in the writings of Emanuel Swedenhorg. Let it be 
strictly remembered that in the natural sense much of the Bible is 



53 

written according to appearances, and not according to real truth. 
When Christ said ''except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood ye have 
no life in you," we know that the litteral sense is only apparent truth, 
for the real truth is that we must appropriate the. good and truth which 
came from him; and in like manner when the Bible says Jesus is angr}^ 
and that he punishes, afflicts and curses man it is only an apparent 
truth, for the real truth is that man is angr}^ with Jesus, and brings 
upon himself punishment, affliction and curses by turning away from 
Jesus, and establishing a connection with hell. In the same way we 
speak of the sun, moon and stars moving from east to west which is 
only an apparent truth, for the real truth is that the earth moves, and, 
with slight exceptions, the sun, moon and stars stand still. Then, let 
it be remembered in the following scripture quotations, Jesus does not 
send any of the punishments threatened, because it is only an appa- 
rent truth; but that hell sends them whenever man withdraws from" 
Jesus, which he always does when he sins. Not only in the following 
quotations but in many other passages not quoted, and in all that has 
been written this rule of interpretation has been followed. 

THE. BIBLE ON OLD AGE. 

In the following scripture quotations it will be seen that the follow- 
ing doctrines are taught: 

1. That old age is of divine appointment. 2. That old age is 
promised to the obedient. 3. That if all the people are righteous 
there witl be no sickness, except old age. 4. That Jesus considers 
old age as a blessing which he bestows upon the righteous. 5. That 
in the new age people will die only with old age. 6. That Jesus is a 
healer of disease. 

Gen. VI., 3. — And the Lord said, my spirit shall not always strive 
with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be a hundred and 
twenty years. 

Gen. XV., 15. — And thou shalt go to thy father's in peace; thou 
shalt be buried in a good old age. 

Gen. XXV., 8. — Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a 
good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his 
people. 

Gen. XXXV., 29. — And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was 
gathered unto his people, being old and full of days. 

Ex. XV., 26. — And said, if thou will diligently hearken unto the 
voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, 
and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I 
will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon 
the Eg3'ptians; for I am the Lord that healeth thee. 

Ex. XX., 12. — Honor thy father and thy mother; that thy days may 
be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 

Ex. XXIII., 25. — And ye shall serve the Lord your God, and he 
shall bless thy bread, and thy water; and I will take sickness away 
from the midst of thee. 

Ex. XXIII., 26. — There shall nothing cast their young, or be barren, 
in their land; the number of thy days I will fulfill. 

Deu. v., 16. — Honor thy father and thy mother as the Lord thy 



54 

God hath commanded thee; that thy days may be prolonged, and that 
it may go well with thee. 

Deu. VI., 2.— That thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep 
all his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, 
and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy 
d'Tys may be prolonged. 

Deu. VII., 15. — And the Lord will take away from thee all sickness, 
and will put none of the evil diseases of Egyptj which thou knowest, 
upon thee; but will lay them upon all that hate thee. 

IT. Sam. ii., 12.— And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt 
sleep with thy fathers, 1 will set up thy"^seed after thee. 

Job v., 26. — Thou shalt come to'^thy grave in a full age, like as a 
shock of corn cometh in his season. 

Ps. xc, 10. — The days of our years are three score years and ten; 
and if by reason of strength they be four score years, yet is their 
strength labor and sorrow. 

Ps. cv.. 87. — He brought them forth also with silver and gold; and 
there was not one feeble person among thoir tribes. 

Prov. III., 2 —For length of days, and long life, :md peace, shall 
they add to thee. 

Prov. IX., 11. — For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the 
years of thy life shall he increased. 

IsA. Lxv., 20. — There shall be no more thence an infant of days, 
nor an old man that hath not filled his days; for the child shall die an 
hundred years old. 

THE BIBLE ON SICKNESS. 

Sickness, war, famine and pestilence are all derived from hell, and 
are the fruits of sin. "The Lord God is a sun, and a shield;" there- 
fore, the sun, and his operations on all things, is an image of Jesus, 
and his operation on all things. By sin man departs from Jesus, and 
then plagues follow, just as cold follows the withdrawal of heat, and 
just as darkness follows the withdrawal of light. In winter the earth 
turns partially away from the sun, and then cold follows; and at night 
the earth turns entirely away from the sun, which brings both cold and 
darkness; and in precisely the same way when man turns away from 
Jesus he falls into evils and falsity, and these bring war, famine, pesti- 
lence, sickness, and all the multitude of human miseries that meet us 
every day, and everywhere. Heat corresponds to love, and light to 
wisdom; and cold corresponds to evil or sin, and darkness corresponds 
to falsity, or false doctrines. Although the Bible says plainly that 
Jesus sends the above plagues, yet it is written according to the ap- 
pearance, for he does not turn away from wicked men, and send these 
plagues, any more than the sun turns away from the earth, and sends 
cold and darkness. It is no more the work of Jesus to send plagues 
on man, than it is the work of the sun to send cold and darkness; yet, 
in each case it appears as if the sun departed from the earth sending 
cold and darkness, and that Jesus departed from the wicked sending 
on them plagues and curses. This is new church theology, and is 
taught by means of the spiritual sense of the Bible which Jesus re- 
vealed to Emanuel Swedenborir. and which the old church wickedlv 



00 

rejects. In the following scripture quotations it will be seen that the 
following doctrines are taught: 

1. That sin is the cause of disease. 2. That sin shortens life. 
3. That satan sends disease on man when he has power to do so. 4. 
That sin is the cause of all plagues. 

Lev. XXVI., 16. — I also will do this unto you; I will even appoint 
over you terror, consumption and the burning a -ue, that shall consume 
the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart; and ye shall sow your seed in 
vain, for your enemies shall eat it. 

Lev. XXVI., 20. — And your strength shall be spent in vain; for 
your land shall not yield her increase, neither shall the trees of the 
land yield their fruits. 

Deu. XXVIII., 21. — The Lord shall make tli e pestilence cleave unto 
thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land. 

Deu. XXVIII., 22. — The Lord shall smite thee with a consumption, 
and with a fever, and with an inflamation, and with an extreme burn- 
ing, and with the sword, aud with blasting, and with mildew; and they 
shall pursue thee until thou perish. 

Deu. XXVIII., 27.-^The Lord will smite thee with the botch of 
Egypt, and with the emerods and with the scab, and with the itch, 
whereof thou canst not be healed. 

Deu. XXVIII., 60. — Moreover, he will bring upon thee all the dis- 
eases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto 
thee. 

Deu. XXVIII., 61. — Also every sickness, and every plague, which 
is not written in the book of this law, them will the Lord bring upon 
thee, until thou be destroyed. 

Job II., 7. — So wex.t satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and 
smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. 

Ps. LV., 23. — But thou. Oh God, shall bring them down into the 
pit of destruction; bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half 
their days. 

Prov. X., 27. — The fear of the Lord prolongeth days; but the years 
of the wicked shall be shortened. 

Ecc. VII., 17. — Be not overmuch wicked, neither.be thou foolish; 
why shouldstthou die before thy time. 

Lu. XIII., 16. — And ought not this woman, being a daughter of 
Abraham, Tvhom satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed 
from this bond on the Sabbath day? 

John v., 14. — Afterwards Jesus findeth him in the temple, and 
said unto him, behold, thou art made whole: sin no more lest a worse 
thing come unto thee. 

THE bible ox HEALING. 

Divine healing is positively taught in the Bible, and also that 
righteousness prevents disease and brings old age. But thousands of 
people are ready to respond, that they can see no difference in this re- 
spect between the christian and sinner, which is a fact; but there are 
a number of causes for it, and if they could be removed the difference 
would soon be perceptible. It is probable that all diseases, without 
exception, are more or less contagious, and that the righteous and the 



56 

wicked being indiscriminately mixed, the contagion can easily pass 
from one to another so effectually that no distinction can be perceived. 
Then again, people do not pray for either health or the cure of disease, 
and these are positively and unequivocally sins of omission, for when- 
ever a man spends a day without praying for the health of his body, he 
commits a sin of omission. If he is in sound health, it makes no dif- 
ference; disease is from the devil and is liable to attack him at any 
time, and it is his duty to pray, every day, for the protection of his 
soul, body and property; for all spiritual wants of the soul, and for all 
temporal wants of the body, and for the prosperity of the church. The 
Lord's prayer is a model for man to patronize, and the daily bread 
mentioned in it includes daily bread for the bod}^, and everything else 
it needs; and health is certainly as important as any other temporal 
blessing: and, therefore, in the daily prayer for daily bread which we 
are commanded to offer, health should be a leading factor If all reli- 
gious people would adopt this rule, and discharge it faithfully and effi- 
ciently, in health as well as in sickness, there would soon be a won- 
derful difference between the righteous and wicked. The standard of 
christian character is to love Jesus with all the heart, soul, mind and 
strength, and "our neighbors as ourselves," and the best christians 
that we can find fall so far below it that I have, long since, been of the 
opinion that the christians of this age are a race of dwarfs. Depravity 
has been transmitted from parent to child with continually increased 
corruption until it seems that there is as much difference between our 
best christians, and what they should be as there is between our scrub, 
dwarf, domestic animals, and our fine thoroughbred ttock. Reason 
teachps, that if ages of starvation will produce such results in either 
the animal or vegetable kingdom, ages of sin will produce like results 
in the spiritual kingdom of the soul; and herein may be found one 
reason, and a strong one, why the righteous suffer with disease. This 
is a dark, mournful, humiliating picture of our age and people, but the 
best thing that can be done is to look the trouble in the face, and set 
about retrieving our lost fortunes as rapidly as possible. Swedenborg 
says that the new christian heaven is below the ancient heaven, or far- 
ther from Jesus than the ancient heaven, because there are no people 
on earth as wise as the ancients. Here is a lesson for those who think 
we are living in the very blaze of enlightened greatness. Whatever 
others may think, I regard the present time as the darkest, and wick- 
edest this earth over saw, and unless "the days are shortened," and 
the Lord comes in great power soon "no living flesh can be saved." 
Childhood training is the only hope of a permanent reform; for unless 
a child gets religious training before it reaches the tenth year subse- 
quent efforts to attain a religious life will be largely superficial, or at- 
tended with ten-fold more difficulty. Family discipline is almost en- 
tirely dead, for there is scarcely enough of life in it to call it, even civil 
government. It is caring for the temporal welfare of the child, and 
there it ends. Half the boys at lourteen abandon all respect for either 
parents or age. and the other half is not far behind them; and there 
never will be any hope for the church until family religious training 
and discipline is restored. There ma}- come universal reform without 



57 

it, but it cannot, and will not be permanent until the lives of children 
are cast in the gospel mould before they reach their tenth year. Our 
scripture quotations prove conclusively that sickness, war, famine, and 
pestilence are the result of sin. Then, when it is said that 1540 diseases 
now assail the life of man, and 999 out of every thousand die with dis- 
ease, it shows what the character of our religion is. I acted once as a 
life insurance agent, and carefully inquired into the health of every 
man I solicited to insure, and out of twelve months of such work, I 
never found but one man entirely free from disease. War has nearly 
ceased, but the nations are armed as never before. The earth yields 
half, or less than half of its increase, leaving the masses to struggle 
from sun to sun for a living. Rain is withheld or comes in deluges 
while insects and disease ravage everything that grows; all of which 
shows the fearful distance to which the human race has strayed from 
the source of all love, wisdom, righteousness and truth. Every chris- 
tian man and woman ought to devote from four to eight hours every 
day and their entire Sabbaths to the service of religion, lor the import- 
ai.ce of eternal life demands it. They should spend much of that time 
in prayer and religious reading, and if they would live in this way until 
they become properly regenerated those hours of daily religious ser- 
vice would be the sweetest hours this earth could possibly afford, and 
make them feel as if they were living in an earthly paradise. In the 
following quotations, it wdll be seen that the following doctrines are 
taught. 

1. That it was probably a custom among the ancient Israelites to 
seek divine power for the healing of disease. 2. That Jesus is a 
healer of disease. 3. That it is the duty of christians to seek divine 
power for the healing of their diseases. 4. That if divine healing is 
received, it must be sought by prayer and faith. 5. That when heal- 
ing is sought b}^ prayer and faith Jesus will answer. 6. That medi- 
cine may be entirely omitted. 7. That entirely omitting medicine in 
the treatment of disease is not a violation of duty. 8. That the early 
christians used oil, and anointed those who sought divine healing. 

II. Chron. XVI., 12. — And Asa in the thirty and ninth year of his 
reign was diseased in his feet, until his disease was exceeding great; 
yet in his disease he sought not to the Lord, but to the physicians. 

Ps. CUT., 3. — Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all 
thy diseases. 

Jas. v., 14. — Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders 
of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in 
the name of the Lord. 

Jas. v., 15. — x\nd the pi'ayer of faith shall save the sick, and the 
Lord shall raise him up. 

THE BIBLE ON GIFTS. 

The distinction between the gift of miracles, and the gift of healing 
should be closely observed, for unless it is done the difference between 
miraculous healing, and faith healing will not be understood, and, as a 
result, confusion will follow. I understand miracles to cure by remov- 
ing all obstructions to the progress of life, and at the same time invig- 
orating the body; thus making a complete cure. But the gift of heal- 



ing, I understand to mean the gradual removal of obstructions to the 
progress of life, leaving life free to gradually regain vigor alone and un- 
aided; and, in answer to daily prayer this gradual healing may con- 
tinue for days, weeks, months, or j^ears according to the more or less 
obstinacy of the disease. I also understand that the gift of healing may 
be as easily obtained as either the gift of knowledge or wisdom men- 
tioned in the following quotations. Here is an important point, for 
thousands of people will regard the gift of healing a.-; the privi- 
lege of a select few. whereas it may be effe«'tually employed by anyone 
who can pray for the pardon of his sins. Prayer not only brings faith 
and trust, but generally increases it in those who already have it, and 
the increase is generally according to the length of time spent in the 
exercise. Then, if anyone wants the gift of healing, or of miracles, 
and fears that his faith is too weak, let him go to prayer, and remain in 
it long enough, and my word for it, he will find faith expanding until 
it sweeps a victory, but as long as he is not willing to pray, in vain he 
may desire either the gift of miracles or healing. I also believe that 
faith healing is as freely within the reach of one man as another, and 
til ere are no exceptions. In the following quotations, it Avill be seen 
that the following doctrines are taught. 

1. That the gift of miracles, and the gift of healing are separate 
gifts. 2. Tliat in the apostolic church they are possessed by different 
persons. 

I Cor. XII., 9. — To another faith by the same spirit; to another the 
the gift of healing by the same spirit. 

I. CoR. XII , 10. — To another the working of miracles. 

I. CoR. XII., 28. — And God hath set some in the church, first 
apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, 
then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. 

I. Cor. XII., 29. — Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all 
teachers? Are all workers of miracles? 

I. CoR. XII., 30. — Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with 
tongues? Do all interpret? 

THE BIBLE ON THE MISSION OF JESUS. 

The principal object in refering to the miracles of Christ and his 
apostles is to overthrow the abominable doctiine that disease is of di- 
vine origin. As long as this idea remains, it will deter many people 
from eeking divine healing, for they will be afraid of antagonizing the 
will of Jesus, and even those who do seek it will be assailed by fears 
that they are not doing right, so it is utterly impossible for the church 
to come out into the clear light of universal divine healing until she 
abandons this miserable falsity. Whenever the masses get from un- 
der its shadow, they will fe(d and act as tV'^emen on this subject, 
and the church will then rise in lier might and majesty, and drive, not 
only disease, but also war. famine, pestilence and all other plagues 
from the face of the earth. Until recently the old church has taught 
'for ages, that Jesus sent disease, and all other plagues and curses on 
the human race. This has been her undisputed logic for centuries, 
and it is useless to begin modifying it, for every effort of the kind will 
be only the adoption of new cliurch doctrines. There is no middle 



59 

ground on the subject; no splitting of the difference without self-con- 
tradiction, for disease comes either from Jesus or the devil, and every 
effort to half it will be nonsense, foolishness and a failure. "The 
prince of this world cometh, and hath no i)art in me," are the words of 
the Divine Master, and any plan for laying the diseases of the right- 
eous on the devil, and the diseases of the wicked on Jesus is a wonder- 
ful mixing of spiritual forces, entirely subversive of the whole tenor 
and spirit of scripture. But we should be glad to hail even this much, 
for it is the dawning of a better day when new church truths will for- 
ever banish old church falsities. A proper understanding of the mis- 
sion and miracles of Christ, and his apostles will settle the question 
beyond the power of intelligent dispute, for "a house divided against 
itself cannot stand," and if Jesus sends diseases on the wicked, and 
then casts them out, it is a house divided against itself. And if he 
cast out diseases which he sent himself he was not destroying the 
works of the devil, because in such cases the devil had nothing to do 
with sending the diseases; so with such theories they were not his 
works. If it be said that he never cast out a disease until the subject 
repented the answer is, that it does not help the matter, for repentance 
did not change the origin of the disease, and the healing of diseases 
contracted while the subjects were in a state of sin is called destroying 
the works of the devil, and nearly always associated with casting out 
devils. Then again, it is not reasonable to suppose that all the multi- 
tudes healed by Christ and his apostles were religious people, for 
many were healed by simply touching the garments of Christ; and 
from, the body of Paul were carried "handkerchiefs and aprons to the 
sick, and they recovered," and to suppose that all these were religious 
persons is nonsense. Then if Jesus healed the diseases that he sent 
himself, how could such work be called miracles, and be associated 
with casting out devils. Every one will agree with John that, "Jesus 
cimeto destroy the works of the devil," and curing disease was a 
leading factor of his work, and if he sent diseases himself, most cer- 
tainly casting them out, or healing the sick was not destroying the 
works of the devil, because according to the old church the devil did 
not send disease, and they were no part of his work. If it be said that 
Christ also raised the dead the answer is, that it was those who had 
died with disease, which is also a work of the devil, fur only death by 
old age is according to divine order. Then, reproving sin and thereby 
casting it out was a leading part of Christ's work, and healing the sick 
is closely associated with it, for in answer to the disciples of John he 
declares this to be a part of his mission. Then again, and the strongest 
argument of any, is that curing disease and healing the sick are con- 
tinually associated with casting out devils, and if Jesus sent disease on 
the wicked how could it be associated with devils? The diseases of 
wicked persons, and the possession of persons by devils are so closeh^ 
associated all through the gospels that hell is unqaestionably proved 
to be the source of both, and after a fair investigation none but the 
captious should dispute it. 

In the following quotations, it will be seen that the following doc- 
trine's are taimht: 



60 

1, That Jesus came to destroy the worts of the devil. 2, That 
curing sin, by preaching the gospel was a part of the work he accom- 
plished. 3. That curing diseases of the body was a part of the work he 
accomplished. 4. That casting out devils was a part of the work he 
accomplished. 5. That raising the dead was a part of the work ho 
accomplished. 6. That, therefore, sin, disease, devils in people, and 
premature death were all works of the devil, and derived from hell, 
and, that Jesus had no part, whatever, in sending them on the people 
he cured. 

Matt. iv. 23. — And Jesas went about all Galilee, teaching in 
their synnagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and heal- 
ing all manner of sickness, and all manner of disease among the peo- 
ple. 

Matt. viir. 16. — When the even was come, they brought unto 
Him many that were possessed with devils, and he cast out the spirits 
with his word, and healed all that were sick. 

Matt., viii, 17. — That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by 
Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities and bear our 
sicknesses. 

Matt., xiv, 35. — And when the men of that place had knowledge 
of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought 
unto Him all that were diseased. 

Matt xiv. 36. — And besought Him that they might only touch the 
hem of His garment; and as many as touched were made perfectly 
whole. 

Mar. I. 32. — And at even, when the sun did set, they brought unto 
Him all that were diseased, and them that w^ere possessed with devils. 
Mar., I, 34. — And He healed many that were sick of divers diseases, 
and cast out many diseases. 

Lu. IV. 40. — Now when the sun was setting, all they that had any 
sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and He laid his 
hands on every one of them, and healed them. 

Lu., IV, 41. — And devils also came out of many, crying out, and 
saying, thou art Christ the son of God. 

Lu. XIII. 16. — And ought not this woman, being a daughter of 
Abraham, whom satan, hath bound,, lo, these eighteen years,, be 
loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day. 

Lu. VII. 22. — Then Jesus answering said unto them, go your way, 
and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind 
see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead 
are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached. 

Acts XIX. 11. — And God wrought special miracles bv the hand of 
Paul. 

Acts xix, 12. — So that from his body were brought unto the sick 
handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the 
evil spirits went out of them. 

I John hi. 8. — For this purpose the son of God was manifested, 
that he might destroy the works of the devil. 

Paul's failures. 

In Paul's epistl(> to lh(^ Phillippians he refers to Epaphroditus, 



61 

who was "sick nigh unto death." Here is a supposed stronohoM of 
those who are opposed to divine healing; and also of those who admit 
it, but only as a partial work; or, that Jesus sometimes gives it, and 
sometimes refuses it. They are always ready' to assert that Paul, 
being an apostle would have healed this colaborer had Jesus given him 
power to do it, and that his failure to do so is positive proof that it was 
beyond his power; and that this is an example to us that sometimes it 
is useless to look for divine healing. In answer to this, let it be 
remembered that Paul mentions in I. Cor., xii. 29, 30, two distinct gifts 
of healiiig, and that the epistles prove that Jesus did sometimes give 
the power to work miracles, and sometimes withheld it. This doc- 
trine has already been noticed and advocated. But it is otherwise with 
the gift of healing, for it works slowly and gradually, but it is univer- 
sal. Then, Paul did not have the gift of miracles when his colaborer 
Avas taken sick, and had to rely on slow, gradual faith healing, which 
finally healed the patient, for it is said that "God had mercy on him" 
thereby proving that divine power finally cured him. 

PaUL's THORN. 

Others there are who are ready to harp on Paul's "thorn in the 
flesh." But before they do this, they ought to tell us what it was, for 
otherwise they are only guessing, and unable to give any proofs or of- 
fer any arguments. It might have been an impediment in his speech, 
born in him, or produced in childhood; or it might have been a 
deficiency in some part of his body, either born in him, or produced in 
childhood; in which case a cure would require the creation of new 
flesh; and such as this faith healing does not propose to do. The cre- 
ation of new flesh might have been done bv Christ when he restored 
the sight of one born blind, but this is an order of miracles that the 
prayer and faith of men cannot reasonably expect; yet, I do not entirely 
repudiate even this, but having had no experience in it, I leave it for 
those who have such cases. 

THE BLESSINGS OF AFFLICTION. 

How often it is that preachers will stand in the sacred desk, and 
rehearse to a congregation the way Jesus led some wicked man to le- 
pentance by sending on him a spell of sickness, or removing a wife or 
a child by death; and I have personally known a number of old church 
members who would thank Jesus for their pains. And I have also fre- 
quently heard preachers rehearse to a congregation how some old saint 
was glorifjdng Jesus by displaying a pious resignation to his will; and 
by patiently bearing the sufferings he sent without a murmur or com- 
plaint. It is true that sickness has sometimes brought men to repent- 
ance, but it generally has the opposite effect, for it makes people ill- 
natured, cross and irritable, and does anything else than promote the 
principles of a pious life. In severe sickness, especially, it is difficult 
for the patient to concentrate the mind on prayer and faith, or to have 
that degree of composure necessary for the mind to act on spiritual sub- 
jects. The best frame of mind to call forth the religious sentiment of 
the soul is a life of happiness, usefulness, and freedom from physical 
or mental pain of any kind, or unusual care for the things of this life. 
When this frame of mind is attained, and properly improved, the re- 



62 

generjition and expansion of the soui is very rapid. The soul is then 
like a well watered garden, and flourishes like the green bay tree 
growing on the banks of the refreshing stream. 

POSSIBILITIES. 

The possibilities of faith healing cannot be measured by the mind 
of man, for like the eternal existence of the soul, we can only grasp 
what little is within the reach of our little finite minds. We may to 
some extent enter into its temporal possibilities, but an infinite mind 
alone can grasp the magnitude of its spiritual sphere of effects. Among 
its temporal possibility will be its extreme simplicity, being so simple 
that the uneducated masses can easily appropriate its power without 
the special teaching of expensive books or salaried tutors. Then, if 
a mistake should be made, there is no danger of injury or harm result- 
ing. Then, it is inexpensive, costing no more than the air we breathe. 
Then, it is so effectual that if it is properly practiced there is no reason- 
able possibilities of failure; for one man who properly understands .it 
would be more successful in curing bad cases than any hundred medi- 
cal doctors that ever walked the earth. One can doctor a family, and 
a few can doctor a town. It will act on persons at a distance equally 
as effectually as when present, and even the knowledge of the patient 
is not necessary. And, finally, anyone can practice it who prays. 
The first difficulty in getting people into the work will be in getting 
them to make the first trial; and then, probably, the next greatest dif- 
ficulty will be an efficient effort, and if they fail in this success is im- 
possible, and discouragement will follow. It matters little how much 
unbelief exists on the subject, if a fair thorough trial is given faith will 
increase with everj^ word of prayer. People will be liable to regard it 
as the privilege of only a few, and it will require a vast amount of per- 
suasion to get them out of that notion. But after all, if they can be 
made to thoroughly understand, they will be driven into extremities 
where they will be forced to try it, for sooner or later extremities w^ill 
come in the life of i.early all men, and when they come the drowning 
man will catch at straws, or anything else in his reach. 

INTEMPERANCE. 

The prayer of faith will effectually heal or cure the habits of alco- 
hol, tobacco, opium or any other narcotic. Here is effectual relief for 
the drunkard who is willing to be reformed, for drunkenness and all 
narcotic habits are induced by intemperate habits, and are diseases of 
the bod}^., and produced by a violation of the physical laws of health 
or hygiene. But, like the prodigal straying from his father's house, 
thca-e is not only room enough for him, but there is infinite room. 
There is not a drunkard, or an opium eater on the ftice of this earth, 
except those in the last extremities of departing life that cannot be 
cured if their co-operation can be obtained; and I am satisfied from 
past experience, that healing in answer to the prayer of faith would act 
on hiin without either his consent, or co-o])eration, and might cure him 
if the counteracting effects of drink did not overcome the healing. 
There is as much efficiency in the prayer of the righteous for the cure 
of the bodily sickness of the sinner without either his knowledge or 
consent as there is in the same prayer offered for his soul^ and prayer 



63 

offered for the salvation of the careless sinner is a scriptural com- 
mand, and religious people both know and practice it. Then, on the 
same principle why may not effectual ]:)rayer be offered for the cure of 
the careless drunkard? The diseases of alcohol and narcotics, how- 
ever, differ from ordinary diseases, for in these diseases the voluntary 
consent of the mind accompanies the disease, whereas in ordinary dis- 
eases, the subject is not only willing but anxious to get free from them, 
and this difference will make a great difference in permanently healing 
them. Unless then, the consent of the mind could be obtained, the 
subject would be continually seeking his old habits. Here is hope for 
the heart broken wife, tied to a drunken sot. Let her spend an hour 
every day in prayer for the removl of a drunken appetite from her hus- 
band, and she may be gloriously rewarded; but, if possible, she should 
also induce him to morally reform. 

INSANITY. 

Insanity is also a disease, and is generally confined to the brain. 
No one knows what a fearful torture an insane person is to. his family, 
except those who have tried it, for their trouble exceeds all belief until 
it is experienced. A few years ago I was thrown in contact with a man 
who had become a raving maniac on the subject of religion. I told 
some of his relatives that his insanity Avas produced by a disease of the 
brain, and that it could be cured by the prayer of faith; so I commenced 
with him., carried the case to a throne of grace every day for six or 
eight weeks, and at the end of that time, his reason was perfectly re- 
stored, and he was as rational as ever before in his life; and remained 
so. He also began improving as soon as I began prayer. This scourge has 
been rapidly on the increase for several years, and is now crowding the 
public asylums to their utmost capacity; but by the prayer of faith 
everyone may be healed except those born idiotic, or who contracted it 
in childhood. Such as these would be in the same condition as those 
born with physical defects, that nothing but the creation of new flesh 
could cure. However, they might be cured in infancy or childhood, 
and possibly in mature years, for the mind of man never ceases to 
grow and develop. 

TEMPORAL RESULTS. 

If faith healing becomes universal, its results will be both temporal 
and spiritual. Its temporal results will be many and universal. It 
will raise the average duration of human life to 80 years, and if the 
preseni birth rate continues it will thereby soon double, treble, and 
quadruple the population of the earth, and go on increasing it until the 
earth has as many inhabitants as it can support. Then providence 
will interpose, and stop the increase. It will reduce human toil by 
substituting an inexpensive curative agent in place of the fearfully 
expensive one we now have, and by doubling the years of middle life, 
when people are able to labor, and by giving men strong constitutions 
in place of the sickly ones that so man}' are now compelled to burden 
with excessive toil. For many years I personally experienced this 
condition of the body, and, therefore, know what it is to labor without 
sufficient strength for the task. It will stop the premature separation of 
kindred and friends. There will bo no more parting of the mother 



()4 

and hor child. No more premature parting by death of parents and 
children; of husband and wife, or of friend and friend. And if the 
same principle is carried into all the affairs ol life, it will stop exces- 
sive droughts, floods, war, famine, pestilence, insect depredations, and 
diseases on our crops, and aniong domestic animals, and thus double 
the returns of our farms, and save a correspondintr amount of labor. 
Here in Texas, with seasons to exactly suit, and no insects or diseases, 
our cotton will annually and regularly produce one and a half bales to 
the acre, but droughts, floods, insects and diseases ravage it every year 
until a half bale to the acre is considered a good average. If all the 
])eople would unite in praying daily for blessings on their crops, and 
for the removal of all these plagues the answer would be given, and 
'>vhen they fail to do it, they fail to offer the prayer, "give us this day 
our daily bread." 

SPIRITUAL RESULTS. 

The spiritual results of faith healing will also be many and univer- 
sal. It is a doctrine of the new chui'ch tliat providence leads man 
from one love into another and if this be true, here is a grand oppor- 
tunity to crush sin on this earth. The love of life is one of the strong- 
est in the human soul, and if it be true that 999 out of evey thousand 
die, prematurely, with disease, what a grand opportunity it is to lead 
man from the love of life into the love of religion, by faith healing; 
and the prospect looks as if this dream is about to burst upon the world 
in reality. Faith healing would then be the gateway into the blazing 
light of the millennium, and the child may now be born that will wit- 
nes this wonderful transformation. And in that church which proph- 
ecy tells us is to stand for ages of ages this same faith healing will re- 
main as a means of leading man from the love uf health into the love 
of religion, for the printing press will never permit the knowledge of 
it to die. Faith healing is then, probably, the gatewa}^ of the millen 
nium, and the chain 'with which to bind satan; for by leading from love 
to love man will be willing to surrender his love for the evil and false, 
for the antidote to all sickness, premature death, plagues and curses 
with which he now suffers; and when he does this universal good will 
take the place of universal evil, and universal truth take the place of 
the almost universal falsities that now reign and rule in the old church. 

INFIDELITY. 

Infidelity has been a miserable, terrible, fearful stench in the nos- 
trils of our christian civilization, and today, like all other sins, its head 
is higher, and its form larger than was ev<^Y known before. And not 
only so, but even the church membership is permeated with the se- 
cret ])oison to an extent that even intelligent, well infcu-med men 
do not imagine; ft/r it is unpopular to be an avowed infldel, and multi- 
tudes of secret infidels n^-ver own or confess it. Its public advocates 
are well organized in christian lands, and their poison is sown broad 
cast among the masses; while in some heathen countries their converts 
are double those of Christianity. They cry out to Christianity, "give 
us tangible evidence, and we will Ixdicn'c. Let us have something that 
our eyes, eav^ and touch can perceive, and we will accept you." In 
faith healing they will have it, and all of it that could possibly be de- 



65 

sired. There are already enough of subjects among faith healers to 
crush infidelity out of existence, if they would only receive the same 
degree of testimony that they admit in the ordinary affairs of life; for, 
not only the subjects of healing themselves can. testify in great num- 
bers, but thousands of their personal acquaintances are scattered over 
the land, who can also testify to facts. But as it was with the miracles 
of Christ, so it is now; they admit the cures, but rule Jesus out, and 
enthrone some fictitious agent. But as the work of faith healing con- 
tinues to spread, and the number of cures continues to increase, the 
vile monster called infidelity will hide its deformed head, and gradu- 
ally die until it ceases to exist. Then the christian world will be 
freed from the abominable curse of those who advocate no religion, no 
soul, and no heaven for the faithful. 

INCREASE RELIGION. 

Disease stalks abroad, and has a place, more or less, severe within 
the body of almost every human being over thirty j^ears of age. Pre- 
mature death calls at the door of almost every household. Probably 
less than one in every hundred of our population prays daily for di- 
vine blessings, and a large majority of these have the form of words 
without the life of prayer. Disease and p)remature death being now 
almost universal, it will require universal prayer to remove them; and 
nothing less will answer. In every instance the great physician must 
be called or he will not come. He will not make himself an intruder, 
and heal disease, where he is- not invited.- Neither will he come in an- 
swer to an empty form of words, for. the spirit, the life and the soul of 
prayer must be there, or there will be no return message. The skele- 
ton form of prayer will do no good, for the dry bones of the formalist 
must be clothed with flesh, and anii^ated with living life. Neither 
will a few words, or a few seasons in prayer do the work; but in place 
of all these must come a prayer of suitable length, or failure will fol- 
low: a prayer wdth the life of intercession in it, or failure will follow; 
and daily seasons until every trace of disease is gone, or failure, either 
partial or entire, will follow. All of this will change the world from a 
pray erl ess people into a land of universal living, spiritual, worshipers 
of the true Christ. This will nccompany universal faith healing as 
surely as that light and heat follow the rising of the sun, and thus man 
will be draw'n from the love of life and health into the love of Jeaus 
and the neigh]>or. ''But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true 
worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the 
father seeketh such to worship him." John iv, 28. 

CONVERTING THE HEATHEN. 

From some cause or causes not properly unc^erstood, christian 
missions have lost their power. Since the first origin of Christianity 
there never has been as much money spent on missions, and never in 
the history of the church w^ere there such meagre results. There is a 
large amount of literature circulated among the churches giving glow- 
ing accounts of the work, but only read their statistics, and tiiey will 
be found humiliating in the extreme; and evidence also goes to prove 
that nine-tenths of their converts are only lifeless formalists, and 
know little or nothing of real spiritual worship, '-such as the Father 



66 

seeketh. ' As the work now stands it seems as if the heathen were 
getting ripe for a renunciation of heathenism, but not in favor of 
Christianity, for Christianity, in heathen lands, appears to be one of 
the least among the asylums offered to the retreating heathen, mo- 
homet, infidelity, and blank nothingnesss appear to be outstripping the 
disciples of the cross in the race for heathen patronage. All this ar- 
gues something wrong, but where shall the remedy be found? If mir- 
acles and faith healing were not important factors in missionary work 
Jesus would not have given them to the apostolic church. And evi- 
dence is abundant that they had much to do with the rapid growth of 
early Christianity, so we need them now, and need them badly, in our 
foreign missions. It is probable that in the apostolic church miracles 
soon ceased, but let gradual faith healing become universal in christian 
lands, and it will sweep like a resistless torrent into, and all over 
heathen nations; and it all can be done by this gradual faith healing, 
and without the high order of miracles employed by Christ and his 
apostles. In our opinion gradual faith healing is an endless, eternal 
heritage of the church, and will never be withdrawn, because it is 
closely allied to, and corresponds with the regeneration of the soul, 
therefore, one will last as long as the other. Prophesy points us to 
the time when a nation shall be born in a day, and the probability is 
that the streaks of light are now appearing in the east; and, that such 
a day is about to burst upon a benighted world. The present work of 
miraculous healing is gradually assuming large proportions, and the 
only need is truth and order to make it a resistless torrent, that neither 
heathenism nor any other ism on this earth can successfully resist. 
The corner stone which the builders rejected will fall upon conficious, 
Mohomet, Rome, Joe Smith, and all their smaller companions, and 
grind them to powder. 

HAIR SPLITTING. 

It is difficult to tell what sort of treatment this book will get from 
the old church, and its present faith healers, but the principles here 
advocated will finally take this world, just as certain as the coming of 
death and eternity. If it were not for thetyrany that exists in the old 
church some conception of its reception by faith healers might be pos- 
sible; but while the reformers under Martin Luther rebelled against 
the tyrany of Rome, they also adopted a system of tyrany nearly as 
bad as that of the old mother. They declared the free open Bible the 
religion of Protestants, but it was false, for the interpretatiim of script- 
ure by the Pope of Rome was only transferred to protestant counsels. 
This heaven born privilege, and eternal heritage of the free, was never 
given to either the ministry or membership; for in Protestant churches, 
preachers and people are permitted to read the Bible, but not to inter- 
pret it. Cauncils have already done that, and if a protestant minister 
dares to deviate the breadth of a hair from the dictated sense of script- 
ure he is arrayed at the tribunals of church justice, and must then and 
there reneunce his so called heresy, or suffer excision and starvation. 
Thus they compel him to interpret scripture according to their will, 
just as the Pope of Rome does; or it will be with him and his family, 
root pig or die, for you cannot have any more corn from the ecclesiast- 



67 

ical crib. Thus it is, that such tyranny has split the church into a 
multitude of little sects, nearly all going by the name of orthodox, and 
their doctrines so near alike that it is little else than hair splitting to 
find the difference. There are probably twenty of them in this coun- 
try, all admitting each other to be orthodox; and yet if a preacher of 
one orthodox sect dares to preach the doctrines of another orthodox 
sect, excision is the penalty; and they will even meet together, swap 
pulpits, and preach to each others congregations, and yet expel their 
own preachers if they dare to deviate from their nice, fine distinction 
of scriptural truths. The code of morals taught by the new church is 
as pure as any other on the face of this earth, and her other doctrines 
as far superior to orthodox as sun light is superior to moonlight, and 
backed by Bible proofs mountain high and ocean deep; and yet every 
sect in the land will expel a preacher if he dares to advocate any 
special part of new church doctrines. If this is not tyranny to perfec- 
tion I do not understand what it takes to make tyranny. A preacher 
should not be allowed to teach doctrines that would encourage sin, 
and there are other proper bounds beyond which he should not be 
permitted to pass; but some latitude and freedom in the interpretation 
of scripture should be allowed to all ministers and members, and it 
should be wide enough to embrace all the present so-called orthodox 
sects of this land; and any circumscribed lines narrower than these in- 
fringes on personal liberty. That the multiplication of so many sects 
is detrimental to the cause of the gospel is generally admitted, and yet 
it is the unavoidable consequence of ecclesiastical tyranny. The pri- 
vate membership of the churches are almost unanimously opposed to 
such divisions, and if it could be left to a vote of these members a gen- 
eral, organic union of nearly all Protestant sects would be the result; 
for it is the councils that have caused the divisions, and still perpetu- 
ates them. There are many preachers in the churches who have 
studied new church doctrines, and would have gladly embraced them 
had they been permitted to do it, and remain in their several churches; 
for there are many letters now in the hands of new church publishing 
societies that testify to these facts, and had it not been for this tyranny 
new church truths would have probably already supplanted old church 
falsities. The large number of approving letters received by new 
church publishing societies come from only a few out of many who 
have studied and secretly endorsed new church theology. To our cer- 
tain knwledge there is a leading preacher living only a few miles dis- 
tant who studied new church writings, and preached them until he was 
threatened with expulsion. But a better day will ere long dawn upon 
protestant Christianity, for sooner or later the ministry of this country 
will break their slavish chains, and assert their heaven born liberty of 
preaching the Holy Bible truths as they understand them, and when 
they do this it will be farewell forever to old church falsities. I am 
now finishing my labor, and giving the fruits of a ten year investiga- 
tion and struggle with disease, and if faith healers will do their duty 
they will lay aside their denominational vanities, and assist in pushing 
this work to a rapid, universal, and glorious victory. 



68 

THE NEW CHURCH. 

I love the new church, and adopt the miiBC of tlic poet: 

For her ray tear shall fall, 

For her my prayer .ascend, , 

Till toils and cares shall end. ,. , 
Many monster falsities of the old church have been already learned 
by the Pleavenl'y new Jerusalem, and thifs one of faith healing is one 
of them. The horrible old. church doctrines that Jesus sends all the 
plagues, miseries and sufferings of humanity is now receiving a little 
justice at the hands of'a few leaders in faith healing, for some of them 
are now crossm'ir the line between the, old, and new church.;. There is 
now only a little leak in the^old rotton hulk; but it is enough to start 
the stream, that will soon plunge the old ship to the>bottom of the ocean 
she has been riding for centuries. The old church must go; Jehovah 
has decreed it; and all that is now necessary is a spirit of independent 
inquiry. This is already on the way, and as soon a^s faith healers ac- 
cept of it, one after another of her abominable falsities, will be seen and 
destroyed, and the ^bod work will go on until t.,he. kingdoms of this 
world will become the "kingdoms of our Lord, an,d His Christ." The 
circulation of Swedenborg's writings is rapidly increasing,, and it now 
looks as if the work is about to burst forth into an irrisistible. torrent, 
that nothing can'withstand. The civil and religious ...revolutions now 
going on have progressed far enough to show that the second^i coming 
of Christ will take place just as Swedenborg said it would; and thisim-^ 
pression is rapidly gaining ascendency over the, public mind. 

THE, WORK OF EVIL SPIRITS. 

In the writings of Swedenborg he sfcites, in a'numbcr Of places, that 
evil spirits can prod.uco,. extreme pain iu' th^^ material 'body' Of ' man by 
means of spiritual iS.pheresy and that they do this by 'establishing them- 
selv^es near, the object .of their misery, and infusing these' spiritual 
spheres into his body... -liSome piarticular trial casds 'are- rn'en'tioned by 
him. : One in which a deVjil^iuias permitted to^ show Hi's p'oiWfer 'by in- 
fusing cold into, the feet.and bodyof Swedenborg utitiT he'Hv6uTd have 
frozen to deatjilhad nofeJesus driven away thedfevil'that ' produced it. 
Another trial,. in which an evil spirit was perhiitted to' show his power 
by producing intense aching of the t'eeth, and had to be driven away 
by Jesus. The spiritual, eyesiof Swedenborg were opened so that he 
could see these devils at their work 't)f- producing suffering in the hu- 
man body. There were >also others that showed their power to pro- 
duce strong temy)tations *wit)h thdir spiritual spheres. These cases led 
me to believe ;when.I>read;themi, that the proper way to cure sOme dis- 
eases would be to , pray for the removal of the devils that produced 
them, in place of. -praying for healing. But having h6ver given the 
matter atest,-! omitted it from my book because' I ;did not wish to in- 
sert something of .which ,' I was not t^ertain'. However, sobn after 
writing and sending my manuscript to the- publishers, Th;M an oppor- 
tunity, to test this foi-m of })rayer^ and gain 'what I nowregard as very 
important information. 1 was attacked by a violent spell of ' chilrs, 
which refused te be cured by the usual methods, and gave me an op- 
])()rtunity to test and pi'ove a new ex})(U-i(^n(HMn faith herding. In 1890, 



69 

Christmas day came on Thursda3^ On the second previous Wednes- 
day I was attacked by what I supposed to be a light chill. On Friday 
it came more violentl}^ and proved to be an attack, of chills, far stronger 
than I had experienced for years. I engaged diligently in prayer for 
the removal of all impurities from my body that produced chills until 
Sabbath day, and before chill hour came retired to rest, with much 
prayer for the prevention of a chilli. I unintentionally fell asleep, and 
soon awoke with a chill. I concluded the trial was not a fair one, and 
to have it over again, so on Tuesday I retired with much prayer, but 
at the usual hour I again had a chill. I now began to fear that I 
would have to employ the co-operation of quinine, for an apparent fair, 
square trial had proved a failure; but before using medicine I deter- 
mined to try a new plan, and employ new tactics on the enemy; for my 
faith in Jesus declared its power to defeat the devil if a proper plan 
was adopted. Thursday morning came; and it was Christmas day. I 
had been invited to take dinner with a friend, and wanted to go, but 
my chill hour was at hand, and a cold norther was blowing, and I was 
afraid to risk the trip. I bowed before the Divine Master, but in place 
of praying for the cure of the chills, I prayed for Jesus to drive away 
the personal devils that I believed were near me and producing the 
chills. I soon felt the effects in my body, and with them came a 
strong degree of confindence, so I arose from prayer, just a little before 
my chill hour arrived, put on my hat and walked over a mile facing a 
cold wind, but all the way engaged in mental prayer for the removal 
ot the devils that produced the chills. It was a grand victory, and for 
three months since then, I have not felt a single symptom of chills. I 
have not had any further opportunities to test this form of prayer and 
faith healing, but I believe it should be employed in the cure of many 
diseases, and in the removal of many temptations of the devil. 

TEACHERS OF DIVINE HEALING. 

Trie probability is that the generality of people will be slow to en- 
gage in faith healing without a personal teacher. Every neighbor- 
hood, therefore should have one or more persons who will not onl}^ 
read, but study, and continue to study the principles and laws govern- 
ing divine healing until they are thoroughly understood, and put into 
active practice. There are a few persons in every neighborhood who 
would make competent workers in the discharge of these duties, for all 
societies have their leaders, in all hum.an affairs. After getting a com- 
petent knowledge of divine healing, such persons ought to visit the 
sick and instruct them how to remove sickness by prayer. They ought 
not to undertake the cure of the sick, but require every sick man and 
woman to do their own praying, and to obtain their own healing from 
Jesus, and he teachers ought to visit them often until they are thor- 
oughly enlisted. If they are wicked persons, and even very wicked, 
as soon as they consent to give up sin, and live a religious life, they 
can immediately and effectually pray for the healing of their own 
bodies, and in all cases, they should be required to do it. When 
children are sick parents are the proper ones to pray for healing, and 
the teachers ought to require them to do it. Sickness will then be a 
grand and glorious evangelizing agency, and be a means of bringing 



wicked men and women to engage in prayer, which will lead them into 
a religious life. 

OTHER FORMS OF HEALING. 

Since I wrote this book four months ago, I have obtained two books; 
one giving certificates of divine healing, and the other by Rev. C. H. 
Mann, editor of the New Church Messenger, on "The regeneration of 
the body through the soul, ' which entirely rejects healing by 
prayer and faith. From these books 1 learn that mind cure and chris- 
tian science healing are more popular than healing by prayer and faith. 
Rev. C. H. Mann's book contains three sermons, and repudiates all 
prayer and faith healing, while the Methodist book says that mind 
cure employs silent prayer. There is none of these disciples near me, 
so I do not know which of the above authors is correct. I have seen 
the principles of christian science healing stated in other print, and 
they omitted prayer entirely. If this is true and its advocates exclude 
prayer and faith, then I believe them to be the magicians of Egypt, 
and in league with the devil. In fact, their very names seem to an- 
tagonize divine healing, and, as a result, just as far as they exclude 
prayer and faith, they are from the devil; and as far as they admit 
prayer and faith, and receive the cures as special divine, supernatural 
healings they are from Jesus. This work of divine healing is hurting 
infidelity fearfully, and this mind cure business without prayer is, 
probably, only an expression of infidelity; and would gladly exclude 
the supernatural, and level divine healing with what might be termed 
ordinary physical or metaphysical laws. Probably there are many 
cures under those names, but from past experience I know that when 
people are healed supernyturally by divine power, they will conceal it, 
almost every time; as long as it remains unpopular; so I believe that 
99 out of every hundred of supposed genuine mind cures are only the 
workings of secret prayer and faith, which the subjects are ashamed 
to acknowledge under the proper name of faith healing. The devils 
kingdom of disease is founded on the sins of this age, and is too strong 
and too well entrenched to be destroyed, or even seriously effected by 
a merely mental state; and any truly religious man ought to be able to 
see it; but the common people are so easily humbugged that it should 
not be otherwise expected of the divil, and his loyal subjects. Any- 
one familiar with Swedenborg's writings cannot fail to know the fear- 
ful extent to which the ministry, as well as the lay membership of 
the church are externally religous, and internally skeptical. Anyone 
who has read his writings might truthfully suppose, that a large ma- 
jority of christian preachers are only externally religious, but in heart 
closely united to infidelity; and after death, it is shown in all its enor- 
mity. It is now probably expressing its real character by trying to 
secularize all divine healing by prayer and faith to a natural plane. If 
this mental cure business is such a powerful force, why did it spring up 
so quickly, and follow so closely to faith healing? The only reasona- 
ble answer that can be given is, that it is intended to aritogonize faith 
healing, and disprove its supernatural, divine claims. The work of 
faith healing seems to be fearfully offensive to the editor of the Mes- 
senger. In his three sermons on "Regenerating the body through the 



71 

soul," after presenting minc^ cure and christian science healing; he 
then presents five objections to faith healing in five paragraphs; and 
then gives a final summary in the following language: "The faith 
cure system, then, differs from the true doctrine; by its prayers of 
pietism, by its placing spiritual life in what is exceptional, by its ten- 
dency to lead to fanaticism by its often engendering spiritual conceits, 
and finally, by its requirement of high priests whose instrumentality 
is necessary for its successful application." Three sermons on healing 
the body through the soul, page 23. If this editor represents the sen- 
timent of the organized New Jerusalem church now in existence, which 
he probably does, it is to be lamented that a church which has done so 
much, and such a grand work in publishing and circulating Sweden- 
borg's writings should descend to a level which is little or anything 
better than skepticism. This new church editor, like thousands of 
other such preachers, has got a sick soul, and if he will take the fol- 
lowing prescription, he will be healed to perfection. Let him go to a 
justification (sanctification) camp meeting. Get down in the straw 
with the other penitents, and stay there until Jesus opens the second 
degree of his soul. Then do so again until Jesus opens the third de- 
gree of his soul. He will then know what Paul meant when he speaks 
of, '-Rejoicing with joy unspeakable, and full of glory," of "being 
filled with all the fullness of God," andof having "that peace which 
passeth all understanding." I have taken the prescription, and per- 
sonally know its efficiency; and if I did not now enjoy this blessed, ce- 
lestial love, I would take it again just as quick as I could find a justi- 
fication (sanctification) revival; and every person who enters the two 
higher planes; or degrees of salvation will have to come to these points, 
for there is no road around them. 

PERSONAL DIFFICULTTES. 

I endorse Methodist justification (sanctification) and Methodist re- 
vivals, but hold new church doctrines. In consequence of this atti- 
tude, I have been excluded, by church intolerance, from church fel- 
lowship for 12 years past; and compelled to engage in secular em- 
ployment. In 1882, I wanted to publish my book on Divine Healing, 
but had no means of either doing it myself, or of putting it into circu- 
lation after it was published. In 1884, I published my little pamphlet 
on healing, and had to give them away, and pay postage on them in 
order to get them into circulation. I now find myself in the same con- 
dition; without means to make it as large as I wanted it, and without 
facilities to put it into circulation. As soon asl finished the present 
manuscript, I sent it to the New Church Board of Publication in New 
York. I offered to let them insert a publishers preface, if any of its 
contents did not suit them, and stated to them my circumstances and 
necessities. They kept my manuscript three months, but never an- 
swered either one of the two letters I wrote to them. In answer to 
postal cards I received two short business notes, but they evidently 
came from the book agent, or a clerk. I have been thus shamefully 
treated without giving the shadow of an offense, for this appendix, and 
the article on Origin of the work have been inserted since its return. 
After its return I made application to three additional publishing 



72 

houses, but every one of them refused to touch it. I am now thrown 
on my own resources, and without a church constituency, so I have 
devised a plan that I believe will put it before the public in spite of 
church arrogance, and church tyranny. i'One man with Jesus on his 
side is a majority." To-day I submit my manuscript to the printer. 
It is the first day of June 1891 I have recently obtained and read two 
of the old church books on divine healing. "Certificates of Divine 
Healing" published in Hoopston, Illinois, and "Divine Healing" 
written by Capt. R. Kelso Carter, and I now wish to extend the ap- 
pendix. 

TWO DIVISIONS AND SEVEN DEGREES IN DIVINE HEALING. 

Divine healing proper, embraces two separate and distinct divisions, 
and seven degrees. 

The first division embraces all these forms of healing in which ob- 
struction to life force is removed instantaneously; or rapidly gradual, 
accompanied by a parallel imparting of physical strength to the sys- 
tem, or to the diseased organ. 

The second division embraces all those forms of healing in which 
obstructions to life force are removed or prevented, but leaves life 
force to recover its lost strength by natural means, unaided and alone. 
The first division has two sub-divisions, and four degrees. The sec- 
ond division has two sub-divisions and three degrees, all of which are 
explained as follows: First division degree 1, embraces those forms 
of healing in which instantaneous removal of obstructions, and an 
equal imparting of physical vigor takes place, and is generally per- 
formed through one who has the gift of miracles, and it comes without 
much prayer. First division, degree 2, embraces the same ad degree 
1, except that the cure is rapidly gradual, in place of being instantane- 
ous. 

First division, degree 8, embraces the same form as degree 1, ex- 
cept that it comes after long seasons of prayer, lasting for weeks or 
months. This is the kind that "goeth not forth but by fasting and 
prayer." 

First division, degree 4, embraces the same form as degree 3, ex- 
cept that the healing is rapidly gradual. . 

Second division, degree 5. embraces that form of healing that 
gradually rem_oves obstructions, leaving life force to recover normal 
strength unaided and alone. When medicine, hygiene, or natural life 
force is able to remove disease, they accomplish the work in the same 
way. 

Second division, degree 6, embraces that form of healing that 
drives away evil spirits, as in chills, and probably more or less, in 
many diseases. This form should be tested in many diseases. Such 
prayer frequently acts rapidly. 

Second division, degree 7, embraces daily prayer for daily health; 
which all men should offer as long a? sicknc s^ is so common in society. 
First division, degree 1, and 2, were such miracles as Christ and his 
apostles performed, but they force faith, and that is the reason why 
they are given so sparingly. From the above books I gather that there 
are many more failures than successful efforts with those two degrees. 



73 

I have never had any experience with them, and do not want them, 
unless Jesus gives them without my asking. They will prohably not 
remain long, for they were only temporary in the apostolic age. I be- 
lieve that when the principles of this book are properly understood by 
the public, it would be far better to cease entirely and depend on de- 
gree? 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. 

THE TWO BOOKS ON HEALING I RECENTLY READ. . 

The two books mentioned above are well worthy of study, but they 
conclusively prove that the present state of divine healing is in confu- 
sion, and has not assumed order. Faith healers have not emerged far 
beyoixd the state I passed through from 1870 to 1880. They are still, 
to a large extent, taking the miracles of Christ and his apostles as their 
only guide, and are trying to deal only in first class miracles. The 
work has not progressed as far as I thought it had, for in comparison 
to the vast amount of sickness extant, it is doing very little. The 
work is confined mostly to elders and anointings, and the sooner these 
are entirely laid aside the better it will be, for the christian public will 
then take hold of the five lower degrees given above. There is no 
longer any use for faith homes, and officiating elders, for if the forms 
of healing given in this book are accepted every house can be a faith 
home, and every praying christian a faith healer. It is only reasona- 
ble to suppose that if sin and sickness spring from the same source, 
which is hell, then every man, woman and child under the sun, who 
can pray successfully for the pardon of sin, and the regeneration of the 
soul can also pray successfully for the removal of sickness, and the 
regeneration of the body; and when they are led to understand the way, 
they will effectually do it, and soon drive sickness of the body from 
the earth. Praying for the healing of wicked men is only casting pearls 
before swine. I have entirely quit it, except in the prospect of death. 
I show them the way, and then if they dn not pray. for themselves they 
can continue to suffer. I have never used anointings, and do not in- 
tend to use them, for, I believe they are entirely unnecessary, except 
in first class miracles, and after this gift I do not seek, because I find 
no necessity for it. Ifc is only for those who do not understand the 
five lower degrees. 

RAPID INCREASE OF THE NEW CHURCH. 

I am a subscriber to two new church papers, an^ learn from them 
that new church doctrines are rooting out so-called orthodoxy with 
great rapidit3^ Within the last twelve years two hundred thousand 
new church (Swedenborgian) books have been distributed among the 
clergy, and the sales are rapidly increasing. New church missiona- 
ries also report open doors, and welcome receptions as rapidly in- 
creesing, aand that many preachers in the old church are openly 
preaching new church doctrines. Within a few years, so-called or- 
thodoxy will be dead and buried, and new church doctrines will be re- 
ceived by all the denominations. 

THE REVIVAL METHODIST CHURCH. 

It is well known that under a name I published a discipline in 1884, 
for the organization of a new church, and that I professed a divine call 
to the work of organizing a ehurch and revival s^^stem. I have not 



74 

abandoned the enterprise, for I have never doubted or questioned my 
call to this work, in the year 1870. Since 1884, I have been engaged 
in perfecting the discipline. If it took the Methodist churches a hun- 
dred years to perfect their disciplines, it is not strange that I have been 
working on one since 1870. I believe the work is now done except 
transcribing, and arranging it in order, together with a constitution 
which I am preparing. In the fall of 1883, the same experience that 
called me to the work, returned, and that was the reason why I pub- 
lished and circulated the discipline in 1884. I do not think I will at- 
tempt the organization of a new church until the same experience re- 
. turns again, and it may be one of the last things I do before I leave 
earth, and I am now nearly 48 years old. I have made some changes, 
and a number of impertant additions; a few weeks ago I was thinking 
about publishing the discipline again. That night Jesus appeared to 
me in a vision. I saw myself in Alabama, in the first effort to start a 
church. The first persons to come forward for membership were some 
boys from 15 to 17 years of age. They were full of enthusiasm, and 
anxious to join, but I clearly perceived that regeneration in them was 
only in its first stage and was barely perceptible. I wanted to com- 
mence the work with thorough and matured christians, but I could find 
none, so I turned away, and refused to receive the boys until their re- 
ligious life was developed; for I was satisfied that such material would 
fill a new church with the same corruption that now exists in the old 
churches, and this I was determined to avoid. I now believe that 
Christianity is only in its infancy, and it must develop into manhood, 
and be perfected before any attempt is made to consumate the divine 
call and commission Jesus gave me in 1870. I do not entertain a par- 
ticle of uneasiness on the subject, for Swedenborg's writings accom- 
plished little until he was dead, and it will probably be the same way 
with my discipline. There is a generation of people yet unborn, who 
will recognize my commission to organize a new church, and for them, 
I am willing for my work to wait, for Jesus called me to this duty and 
He never made a mistake. The treatment I have received for the last 
twenty years has been a disgrace to both the old and new churches, 
and it has all come from sectarian jealousies. There ought to be no 
hesitation in christians to leave a good church for a better one than to 
change from one railroad train to another, and the rising generation 
will be of this class, and will accept my divine call and commission. 
I may engage in revival, or other church work, and labor the balance 
of my life in promoting the spiritual welfare of all the denominations, 
but I shall certainly hold myself ready to publish and circulate my 
discipline whenever Jesus returns to me the experienge of a special 
call I received in 1870, In 1884, the justification (holiness) press did 
me much injustice, and I could furnish proofs, but it would only en- 
gender strife. I have had a great deal of trouble and a delay of five 
months before I could get this book published, and now I need help to 
put it in circulation. I request all christians, and especially all edit- 
ors, who receive a copy to publish my address and price of the book, 
and add whatever criticisms they pleasp to give. This is only asking 
justice, and is accorded by editors to all authors. I intend to adver- 



75 

tise as tar as I am able and pay for it, and this is tfie reaison why I will 
obtain a copyright, but I cannot do much in that line at present with- 
out help. Through the sectarian jealousies of the churches, I have 
been compelled to follow farming, and in 1884, I spent two hundredl 
dollars which I made as a hired laborer in the cotton fields o-f Texas,. 
and then I was compelled to give away my books and pay postage- on 
them in order to get them into circulation. I think it is now time that 
I should receive some degree of recognition from justification (saneti£'- 
cation) and new church christians. When I received my call and comz- 
mission in 1870, I resolved to suppress every rising of self-esteem andl 
egotism, and Jesus has abundantly blessed the eftbrt by bringing mre- 
inside a spiritual state where I see and daily feel myself to be nothing, 
and Jesus to be the Alpha and Omega of my entire being. 

Published and for sale by the author. 

Address: J. M. Cochran, 

Bonham, i'annin County, Texas. 

Please write your name and address as plainly as possible in two 
separate places. The post office in Bonham is a money order office. 
Please do not send any stamps. Do not send money without register- 
ing the letter. If silver is sent wrap each piece separately so that it will 
not cut the envelope. 

If you want Swedenborg,s writings address 

The New Church Board of Publication 

No. 20 Cooper Union, New York City. 
Catalogues are sent free. 



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